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NEW YORK 



@iopolitan Book @>oration 



1920 



9 



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1>V 



Copyright, 1920, by 
COSMOPOLITAN BOOK CORPOEATION 



All rights reserved, including that of translation 
into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian 



1920 



gfo teuinn & gbben Company 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS 
RAHWAY NEW JERSEY 



©CI.A565969 



TO 
MY FRIEND 



eugene f. Mcdonald, Jr. 





CONTENTS 




TEXT 
I 


Beginning at the Beginning . 


PAGE 

1 


II 


Building Belief ...... 


18 


III 


Principles as a Basis 


31 


IV 


What do You Want from Life? . 


42 


V 


The Law 


55 


VI 


The Development of Power . 


69 


VII 


The Tests of Self . . . 


80 


VIII 


Brain Building 


97 


IX 


Concentration Cultivation 


102 


X 


Memory Development 


118 


XI 


Speaking Effectively 


. 128 


XII 


Judgment Plus Forethought . 


. 140 


XIII 


Auto- Suggestion and Mental Disciplini 


3 149 


XIV 


The Prevailing Mental Attitude . 


. 161 


XV 


Selfism 


. 178 


XVI 


Optimism Under the Law . 


. 193 


XVII 


Egoism Under the Law . 


. 203 


XVIII 


The Mastery of Self-Mental . 


. 214 


XIX 


The Mastery of Self-Physical . 


. 230 


XX 


The Mastery of Other Men . 


. 247 


XXI 


The Habit of Success 


. 263 



YOU 



TEXT ONE 

BEGINNING AT THE BEGINNING 

You are alone with a book and once on paper, 
printers ' ink carries no tales. 

Consequently, you can, if you will, indulge in an 
unusual luxury — you can be absolutely honest 
with yourself. 

In fact, if this work is to be more than a mere 
collection of words — if it is to help you — then the 
first step is to make up your mind to look facts 
in the face. And the next step is to act on your 
decision. 

As a source of entertainment, the dullest popular 
novel probably offers more diversion in every 
chapter than is contained in this whole book. 
But as a source of personal profit, not money 
profit but all-around gain, this little volume holds 

l 



2 YOU 

the things yon want — the things you have been 
seeking. That is a broad statement, but the facts 
will, I believe, bear it out. 

In effect, this is a paper mirror which will in the 
reading reflect your strength and your weakness, 
showing how the latter can be corrected and the 
former most advantageously used. This, under a 
scientific, proven plan. 

Now, let's get at it. 

The one subject which is and always will be of 
unfailing and absorbing interest to you is — y-o-u. 

Certainly. Why not? 

You must decide your own destiny — pay your own 
debts — fashion your own future. 

No other man can or will do these things for you. 
So why shouldn't you be interested — most inter- 
ested — in You? 

You should. As a matter of fact, if you're not 



YOU 3 

really, deeply, intelligently interested in yourself, 
you might as well make up your mind that you are 
predestined to Failure, not one but every kind of 
Failure. 

The man who feels that he is interested in himself 
simply because he would like to have luxury and 
admiration — adulation and ease — and who in 
spite of what he imagines is self-interest, still 
makes no real move to progress — well, frankly, 
this work offers no help to that particular type 
of individual. 

Nine times out of ten, that kind of man is imbued 
with a spirit of self-sufficiency which makes him 
feel that the world should come and pour its 
favors at his feet. 

It isn't being done. Nothing for nothing is 1 * the 
rule of today and humanity must receive from 
you something in return for what it gives you. 

Self-sufficiency closes the doors and bars the gates 
through which the good things of Life must enter. 



4 YOU 

On the other hand, if you out of all things the 
world holds are most interested in yourself and 
are sufficiently interested to have felt the surge 
of impulse — the Powers within you straining at 
their leash, then the Law will enable you to cor- 
relate and concentrate and bring into your hands 
through the forces you now possess, the very 
things that you desire. 

Naturally you say, "What is the Law — what will 
it do for me?" 

The first part of your question will be answered 
later. And the last half, you will have to answer 
for yourself simply because you must determine 
your own rewards — the things which you desire to 
attract. Of one thing though you can be certain, 
the Law holds and offers sure returns for an in- 
vestment of serious attention. 

Men discovered the Law but no man made it, for 
it is a fixed, immutable decree from the same 
source that created Life and Death, that 
makes the sun rise in the East and set 
in the West. 



YOU 5 

And the application of this Law to you and your 
personal affairs, is as sure and certain in its re- 
sults as that produced by a chemical combination. 

Peroxide of Hydrogen is produced as unerringly 
from the same formula tomorrow as today. The 
chemist in Africa creates H0 2 as readily and 
surely as the man in San Francisco. 

No matter where you are or who you are, the Law 
will work for you and in only one respect does it 
differ in certainty of results from those pro- 
duced by combinations of chemicals. 

In chemicals certain standards are fixed for the 
ingredients. 

In the operation of the Law, one man's basics 
vary in quality from another's — the degree of de- 
velopment of his latent powers differ, so, under 
the Law results vary according to the individual 
using it. 

We do not claim nor believe that the Law will 
take a plowboy who has the latent quality of a 



6 YOU 

successful merchant and make a great statesman 
out of him. 

But the Law will enable that plowboy to do with 
himself the things that he is capable of doing — it 
will enable him to easily achieve heights that from 
the dusty field look too lofty to even attempt to 
reach. 

You today have within you possibilities of de- 
velopment that could you draw back the curtain 
and see what the future holds, would astonish you 
with their brilliancy and promise. 

But to reach your goal you must find the way. 
The same railroad train that carries you swiftly 
and surely to your destination will crush you 
under its wheels if you stand between the rails 
and refuse to recognize its existence. 

Men recognize an approaching locomotive because 
they can see and hear it. 

But the Law is invisible. It is in men's minds 
and although it is real as steel and more valuable 



YOU 7 

than precious stones, this force which carries men 
to the things they want crushes and breaks the 
mass of humanity who through blind mind's eyes 
do not see or recognize it. 

If a man with a hurry call to San Francisco were 
to start walking from New York, what would you 
think of him? 

True, he might finally arrive at his destination, 
but he'd certainly be mighty slow getting there 
and waste a world of time and energy that could 
be saved by the simple act of taking a train. 

No sane man with funds would attempt to walk 
across the continent if he were in a hurry. 

Again — railroad trains are real things, visible to 
the naked eye — tangible. 

And everyone knows and realizes the advantage 
of rail transportation. 

Yet the Law — certain and sure as train schedules 
— offering a wonderful short cut to those of 
humanity who will use it, is applied by but a few, 



8 YOU 

simply because it can't be seen and felt and smelt 
— has no dimensions and makes itself recognized 
only by results produced. 

And humanity in the mass slowly tread the road 
of Life, footsore, weary and uncertain, losing 
their way, straying down sidepaths that lead no- 
where and are paved with grief and failure. 

And all the while, the Law is there for them to 
use — the Law that quickly, rapidly and surely 
brings Man to his own — to the things he seeks. 

Mind, this is not the only way. But it is the 
simple, practical, easy way. 

And that is what most of us are looking for. 

The Law is made of several complements — ac- 
quired separately — used as a unit force. 

This work covers only the simple, elementary 
branch of the Law — just the parts that you need 
and I need to carry us easily and surely over the 
obstacles and problems of every-day existence and 



YOU 9 

insure success commensurate with the quality 
of the powers latent within us. 

Eight about now, you're becoming impatient, 
probably asking yourself, "Why doesn't he tell 
me what the Law is instead of what it does?" 

And I'm going to answer your question by say- 
ing that you are not going to get a satisfactory 
definition of the Law for some time — not until the 
foundations have been laid and you are really 
ready to receive it. 

There's a good sound reason for this and it is 
born of experience. 

The Law is a good deal like the roof of a house — 
it doesn't go on until the foundation is in and the 
four walls up and certainly we don't want to lay 
our 'roof on the ground. So, unless you take 
an unfair advantage and skip ahead, we'll do a 
little foundation laying and wall building before 
we begin to examine our 'roof '. 

A certain man in Chicago, of unquestioned bril- 



10 YOU 

liancy, had made, while not exactly a dire failure, 
at the same time only a partial success. He met, 
at lunch, a friend who had found happiness and 
financial independence. Suddenly, on impulse, 
the unsuccessful man asked what seemed a bro- 
midic question: 

' l How in the world have you made the success you 
have, Jim? We both graduated from the same 
school, were admitted to the bar the same year, 
I'm as good as you are, yet — what's the 
secret?" 

And the friend, who really was a friend, told 
simply and in a few words, his principle of life — 
defined the Law. 

But it made no impression — it couldn't — it 
sounded too easy — too simple to be effective — the 
things back of it and surrounding it were not even 
touched on. The definition took hardly ten words. 

And the unsuccessful lawyer went on his unsuc- 
cessful way — still what he was before he heard 
the Law defined. 



YOU 11 

Five years more passed in the same way and by 
chance he encountered another man living under 
the Law who laid a proper groundwork in his 
mind during several weeks spent together at a 
hotel in New York where they were trying a case. 

This time, the foundation was really laid and 
the walls up when the 'roof', the Law was 
arrived at. 

When the definition was finally given, the unsuc- 
cessful lawyer looked steadily at his compatriot 
and said: 

"I heard that same thing five years ago but I 
dicing understand it. Now, I'm going to use it." 

And he has. To tell you of the progress he has 
made would savour too much of a forced moral 
and the point I wanted to emphasize was, not what 
the Law did for him, but his complete failure to 
understand and appreciate it until the proper pre- 
paratory work had been done. 

Read on. When the time comes, you will learn 



12 YOU 

what the Law is and how it is used. As I said be- 
fore, this book has not been compiled as a means 
of entertainment and there is a real purpose back 
of every page. 

Now for the sake of understanding, in using the 
term ' science', I include the fields of invention, 
psychic and scientific research. 

Science has conquered the air and the earth and 
the water. 

Trains now roar through tunneled mountain- 
sides of rock and stone — space is traversed by 
aeroplanes and messages that need no wires to 
carry them — the surface of the sea is a traveled 
track and its depths hold no secrets. 

Science has made Man master of the earth and 
its elements. 

And what is Science? 

'Science' is the Mind of Mankind— searching for 
the light. 



YOU 13 

And Science — the Mind of Mankind — having 
mastered the material things — has now turned 
its forces upon the greatest problem of all — the 
Mind of Man. 

Man wanted to ride in the air, over the earth, 
under the sea — Man wanted to talk to Man over 
a thousand miles of space — Man wanted to 
turn night into day. And Science, the Mind of 
Mankind, satisfied these, Man's material de- 
sires. 

But now, Man wants something more — he wants 
contentment — health and independence — well-be- 
ing both mental and physical. 

Science contemplated a bird flying through the 
air and said, "It can be done because it is being 
done ' \ 

And the aeroplane came. 

The Mind of Mankind saw a few out of the many, 
happy and healthy and prosperous and said, "It 
can be done because it is being done". 



14 YOU 

Then came the beginnings of mental research — 
the struggle to find the powers that make Man 
what he wants to be. 

In every country, every corner of the globe, men 
who saw the end of research in material develop- 
ment, beheld the dawn of mental supremacy and 
out of their work, like a statue hewn out of a great 
block of marble stands the Law — as clearly de- 
fined and blue-printed as the aeroplane itself. 

In every man who has won his way and cast loose 
from the masses who struggle blindly toward an 
unseen goal, the workings of the Law; clearly 
manifest themselves. 

This, whether it has been consciously or uncon- 
sciously used. The fact remains that it is there 
— without it there can be no achievement — no real 
progress. 

In some humans, the Law has been perverted and 
twisted in its use and application. The man who 
has used the Law solely to create wealth for him- 
self — who has permitted gain to obscure his 



YOU 15 

vision of bigger things — this man pays the inevi- 
table penalty of perversion of the Law by being 
deprived of Happiness, ridden with unrest and 
discontent. 

Men of this type are like the Indian faMr who for 
countless years sat cross-legged on the ground 
lifting heavy weights all day. His upper body 
became abnormally strong but his lower limbs 
shriveled away and would not bear his weight. 

The mere reading of this work will profit you but 
little. But if you will approach it from the angle 
of absorbing, understanding and practicing the 
complements and the Law, within a few years, 
forces present within you today in a more or less 
latent form will develop to the point where you 
will tower over other men in mental stature — open 
for you possibilities that do not now seem to 
exist, obstacles that appear like mountains will 
fade away like banks of mist and you will find 
success. 

Does that promise sound extravagant — ridicu- 
lous? Possibly it does — to the man who is living 



16 YOU 

in that narrow shell called self-sufficiency. But to 
the man who wants to do — who wants to really 
live — it should be a clarion call to the bountiful 
harvest that Life holds for those in whom 
desire induces action. 

I know men who from sickly boys with poverty 
saddled on their backs have in a short span of 
years risen to health and luxury and independ- 
ence. 

I know a man who had wealth but bore the biggest 
burden of mental unrest that ever seared and 
burned a human soul. That man has found a 
priceless jewel — he has discovered Contentment. 

I know — but why tell you what the Law has done 
for others — what it will do for you is the inter- 
esting thing. 

But this much I will say. Be you rich or poor, 
old or young, no matter what your desires so long 
as they accord with the Law, if you honestly, 
earnestly and sincerely put the Law to work, your 
visions shall become reality and your dreams real 
things. 



YOU 17 

A short time ago, I mentioned the investment of a 
number of years in the work. Do not, from this, 
gain the erroneous idea that practice of the Law 
does not offer quick results. 

On the contrary, every day you spend with the 
Law brings immediate returns and splendid in- 
terest on the time investment you are making. 

Shorn of all furbelows and fancies, the Law is 
just simply the Art of Living — and the man who 
does not collect from Life all it should yield 
him is not really living — he is just existing. 



TEXT TWO 

BUILDING BELIEF 

This is a book of self — the application of the 
Law set forth herein is in its relation to your 
problems of happiness, enjoyment and progress. 

The Law gives mental light and mental fresh air 
and mental sunshine. 

And it aids and develops mental health and power 
just as fresh air, sunshine and exercise benefit the 
physical body. 

To illuminate a room in your home, you don't pull 
back the curtains to let the dark out. 

You throw back the window coverings to let 
light in. 

The man who wants a bright, cheerful, healthy 

18 



YOU 19 

home doesn't build it underground and then won- 
der why the damp, earthy dark prevails when 
he opens windows and throws back the 
curtains. 

No, he picks a spot with proper exposure where 
the sun and the breeze and brightness can get at 
and fill his dwelling-place with cheer. 

Yet Humanity, or the majority of men, so sur- 
round themselves with fear and worry and doubt 
and trouble and darkness that their minds are 
practically buried underground — even when the 
mental windows are opened, no Light pene- 
trates simply because there is no Light out- 
side. 

The Law is Light. And to acquire it, all you 
have to do is to surround your mental dwelling 
with its simple tenets — understand them and make 
them a part of You. 

Then, when you arise and throw back the cur- 
tains, under the Law, Light enters and darkness 
disappears. 



20 YOU 

Right here, I want to register the fact that there 
is one great essential which yon must recognize 
and act upon before you can enter the new realm 
of power and success. 

Humanity — and in this respect you are no differ- 
ent from the rest — has built out of the years spent 
on earth, certain beliefs and mental prejudices 
which constitute a strong set of barriers against 
the acceptance of anything new. 

These are the influences that make a man refuse 
to accept or even attempt to understand principles 
which would work a startling revolution for good 
in his life. 

To benefit by the Law — to profit by its practice 
— you must cast aside all prejudice and establish 
as a basis of progress — b-e-1-i-e-f . 

This is the primary. It is of vital importance 
and consequently must be fully treated upon be- 
fore we pass the subject. 

I am not going to ask you to believe anything 



YOU 21 

which will in any way conflict with your religious 
convictions. 

I am not going to ask you to believe anything 
which great Scientists whose lives have been spent 
in a study of the human mind will not gladly en- 
dorse. In fact, the Law is nothing more or less 
than a translation of the result of their studies 
— given you in a workable, usable form. 

Now as to this matter of Belief. You must Be- 
lieve if you expect to benefit. • 

This is all important. 

The man whose outlook on Life is pessimistic will 
find in the complements of the Law many things 
which look impossible to him. 

But — if he will cast aside his natural trend of 
thought and accept the Belief herein outlined, it 
will bring him the very things the possibility of 
realization of which his present belief precludes. 

If you will stop right now and decide the question 



22 YOU 

of whether or not you are willing to believe things 
which will make you happier, healthier and 
wealthier, you will save a lot of time and lay 
a foundation for real progress. 

"I think the thoughts which are best for me to 
think." 

And by believing and thinking along these lines, 
I actually become that which I think and 
believe. 

If a man who had the money promised to give 
you a beautiful home, financial independence and 
the things you want for your family and your 
children — all on one condition — that you believed 
in advance that he was going to fulfill his promise 
— would you believe? 

Of course, you'll answer "Yes." 

But reflect a little. You'd say "Yes" but would 
you actually believe that all these wonderful 
things were going to be yours just in return for 
a mental attitude? 



YOU 23 

Ninety-nine per cent of humanity would not really 
believe — they would make a mental reserva- 
tion. 

They would not believe that these things were to 
be theirs until they actually realized them. 

And as a result of their failure to fully comply 
with the terms of the bargain, they would not win 
the prize. 

Skeptical humanity says, "I won't believe it until 
I see it." 

And right there humanity fails, because the key 
to progress and success is belief. 

"I want something — I know I want it — I want it 
hard enough — and I get it." 

There is the winning thought. And skeptical hu- 
manity again speaks l ' Pooh — just wanting a thing 
won't get it for you." 



No? 



24 YOU 

Have yon ever sat reading with the desire for 
a glass of water in the back of your mind — not 
fully developed — just wandering around in the 
background of your sub-conscious mind, growing 
stronger and stronger — and then without any con- 
scious decision on your own part, found yourself 
drawing a glass of water? 

Every human has had this or a similar experience 
and a little thought will give you the analogy. 

Your thoughts and desires for something easily 
attainable made you go and get that thing — almost 
unconsciously. 

In exactly the same way, your thoughts and de- 
sires for something that now seems unattainable 
will lead you to the things you want. 

Don't get the idea that a proper habit of thought 
is the only thing. Your powers must be developed 
in accordance with the Laws, but this is the foun- 
dation. 

When you desired that glass of water, if that was 



YOU 25 

what it was, no doubts or fears assailed you. You 
knew that it was within your reach and no ques- 
tion of success in attaining it held you back. 

In other words, you believed. 

And you gained what you wanted. 

But when you begin to dream power and inde- 
pendence and success and the bigger things of 
Life, doubt and fear creep in and paralyze and 
neutralize the wonderful forces of your mind. 

And failure to Believe means failure to Achieve. 

I ask you to Believe, not because the things we 
are going to discuss will seem easy or practical, 
but because without Belief, the power of the Law 
is deprecated and discounted. 

Will you, for your own sake, on the chance of 
great moral, mental, spiritual and bodily profit, 
agree to Believe? 

As you go through the Work, whenever question 



26 YOU 

or doubt assails you and starts to inject its deadly- 
poison into the living, breathing powers you are 
beginning to build, oast outside — all harmful in- 
fluences and concentrate on Belief. 

Say to yourself, "I Believe because Doubt de- 
stroys and Belief builds me and mine. ,, 

That thought, sincerely expressed, routs the enemy 
of Fear and Doubt as sunshine dispels darkness. 

We have dealt a little with darkness in the pre- 
ceding pages and it is well at this point to have 
a clear understanding. 

Divine Providence provided the day to work and 
play — the night to rest and prepare for another 
day. 

The Law is made by Providence, so it does identi- 
cally the same thing — it provides the Light for 
achievement and growth — the Dark for rest. 

But there are two kinds of Darkness, the De- 
structive Darkness of Fear and Worry and Doubt 



YOU 27 

and the Building Darkness of rest and quiet and 
recuperation. 

The imagination of the child alone in the Dark 
conjures up beasts of prey and hobgoblins stalk- 
ing about in the unseen waiting to pounce and rend 
his tender body into bits. 

This is because he does not know what the Dark 
holds. 

And Man, the great mass of Mankind, fills the 
unseen with hobgoblins and devils waiting to tear 
the future, destroy fond plans and kill the hap- 
piness which life really holds. 

That is the Destructive Darkness which precludes 
recuperation and turns the period of rest into a 
time peopled with terrors. 

When you surround your mental dwelling with 
the light of the Law — with the complements of the 
Law — when rest time comes you simply draw 
the curtains and recuperate, secure in the knowl- 
edge that there can be no terrors attacking from 



28 YOU 

without because you have chosen your own dwell- 
ing-place and placed the Light on guard. 

And without Belief, this is impossible. Belief 
peoples your mind with the able aids of light 
— your defenders against Destructive Dark- 
ness. 

There is one fact which it is well to recognize 
right here. The man or woman who is able at 
first reading to fully and absolutely accept every- 
thing laid down here is rare. 

It is not to be expected that at this stage, Belief 
will come for the mere calling. 

But as you build within you a measure of Belief 
and Knowledge of the Law, naturally you apply 
it in your everyday life. 

And as you see the things it makes possible even 
through a partial belief and practice, conviction 
grows within you and your Belief takes deeper 
and deeper roots and grows greater and stronger 
within you. 



YOU 29 

And the stronger your Belief the more powerful 
the workings of the Law shall be in your hands. 

There is a curious weakness of humanity and one 
that must be guarded against in this connection. 
Men who work hard and achieve a certain measure 
of success which permits them to enjoy a few of 
Life's pleasures of which they have been early 
deprived, arrive at a critical point. 

They permit achievement to sap the roots of 
progress. They let-up — rest on their oars. 

In the practice of the Law and the development 
of it within you, the success of yesterday must be 
but a spur to today's achievement. 

Psychologists the world over recognize this period 
of the achievement of comparative power as the 
most dangerous point in Life. It sometimes leads 
to the fatal error of satisfaction with what has 
been done. This is inevitably a step backward in 
the scheme of things. 

You must progress. Every reward the world be- 



V 



30 YOU 

stows upon you for your exercise of the Law must 
be regarded simply as an indication of what can 
be done. 

Mental stagnation is a dangerous rut and one 
that it is mighty easy to fall into when one has 
accomplished more than he originaily believed 
possible. 



TEXT THREE 

PRINCIPLES AS A BASIS 

Probably you are again becoming impatient — 
saying to yourself "What is the Law — why 
doesn't he explain it so that I can judge for my- 
self whether or not it is of value to me!" 

r 
If you are asking that, your answer is right in 

your question. 

I am not outlining the Law now simply because 
you are not yet competent to judge whether it is 
of value and applicable to you or not. 

In your present position and state of mind you 
would be like the man who looks at a folded suit 
of clothes lying on the tal)le and says "It won't 
fit me." 

The thing must be opened and tried on and looked 
at before you can judge. 

31 



32 YOU 

And that is just what I am doing — getting you 
ready to try on your new mental garment. 

If we were talking in person, the chances are that 
I would not hesitate to explain first and go into 
details afterwards. I could depend upon your 
courtesy to stay and hear the things you should 
know. I could afford to show you the suit lying 
on the table knowing that even if you didn't think 
it would fit, you would permit me to open it up 
and slip it on. 

But — this is a book — you, as I said before are 
alone with it — if without due preparation you are 
given the Law — you might close the book and 
that would be an end to it. 

Writing books is not my means of livelihood. I 
am in a different business. The time and effort 
I have spent in compiling these works has been 
compensated only through the knowledge that I 
was helping others. The financial gain has been 
small — from this source. 

I know, however, what the Law has done for me. 



YOU 33 

I have seen what it has done for others with whom 
I have personally experimented. 

Consequently, I am not going to take a chance 
of losing your attention at a stage when you are 
not competent to judge, by letting you walk into 
the room by yourself and look at the folded gar- 
ments. 

I insist upon opening them up so you can try 
them on before giving them to you. 

However, this I will say. These opening chapters 
carry a message of importance — they are as 
vital to your successful use of the Law as the 
farmer's sowing his seed in the field. You can't 
cultivate ground where no seed has been sown and 
get a crop. You can't develop the Law for your 
own benefit unless you have sown the seed. 

Children do things instinctively. A child trained 
in right habits of thinking and acting does not 
need to look at the whys and wherefores and hows. 

Take a caddy boy who starts playing golf at ten- 



34 YOU 

der years. When lie is thirty or so, his whole 
philosophy of golf is contained in the single sen- 
tence "I just hit the ball where I want it 
to go." 

Should the boy golfer later become an instructor 
he probably makes his first analysis of his own 
game to benefit not himself but his pupils. 

The man who takes- up any new thing after his 
mental processes are matured and formed, must 
know the reason why — have the principles clear 
in his mind before he can achieve success. 

After the principles are once absorbed and 
grasped, the rest is easy — the operations come to 
be performed almost without conscious thought as 
time goes on. 

The greater the number of important mental 
operations you can perform without thinking 
about them the greater your power. And since 
the Law encompasses a wider range of mental 
power, it is important that you first understand 
the principles. 



YOU 35 

My feeling on this matter is biased from a per- 
sonal standpoint. The mere injunction to go 
ahead and do a thing without an explanation of 
what's behind, arouses my resentment. 

And I take it for granted that since you are a 
thinking person, the same holds true in your 
case. 

You must know the principles behind the work — 
the things that make it possible — before you can 
become really interested in applying these forces 
to the solution of your own problems and further- 
ance of your own interests. 

Very well — that is our next step — to place you 
in possession of the principles. 

The Law is founded on the Development of Per- 
sonal Power and Auto-Suggestion. 

Your first step at school was to learn the "A, B, 

C's." 

Once acquired, you began to read — then write. 



36 YOU 

And as you practiced you read and wrote with 
greater ease until it became an almost automatic 
mental process. 

It is the same with the Law. 

Your" A, B, C's" must be learned — your Per- 
sonal Power developed, then Auto-Suggestion 
and the higher practices come into play and the 
big benefits begin to come. 

Personal power has been analyzed and sub-divided 
and cross-indexed into so many divisions that to 
the average, or even more than average man, 
the situation is confusing. 

But just as a painter can by combining the three 
primary colors in different proportions, produce 
thousands of different colors and shades, you can, 
by developing certain Primary Powers, place at 
your command practically every mental faculty 
for gaining from Life the things which it should 
yield you. 

In the last twenty-five years or so, Suggestion, 



YOU 37 

always playing a great part in Life, has at last 
become recognized as the wonderful power for 
good or evil that it really is, its causes and effects 
are recorded at last. 

Probably the most universal and specific con- 
trolled use of Suggestion is in medicine — generally 
termed psycho-therapeutics. Irrespective of 
the name, it has proven itself a wonderful 
thing. Many progressive physicians prac- 
tice Suggestion on their patients with won- 
derful results. 

Suggestion as used by the physician is termed 
hetero-suggestion. Suggestion when practiced by 
you on yourself is Auto- Suggestion — in plain 
English-Self-Suggestion. 

Simply because I have used the medical profes- 
sion as an example in explaining Suggestion, do 
not think that its use is confined to curing ills — 
not a bit of it — Auto-Suggestion will make a for- 
tune — quell fear and stop worry — and do thou- 
sands of other things essential to living life 
successfully. 



38 YOU 

So powerful is Auto- Suggestion that properly- 
used it can be made a force before which all things 
succumb. 

However, you cannot be expected to take Auto- 
suggestion and put it to a successful use, without 
a development of your Mental Powers. 

And that is why I placed the development of your 
Mental Powers first in the category above. 

Remember this as a basic — every thought, re- 
peated often enough, becomes an action. 

At this particular stage, a good many who have 
read on this subject will say that it is a dire 
mistake to leave hetero-suggestion out. 

But I believe that you will put it in yourself — a 
person who can constructively practice Auto-Sug- 
gestion almost invariably even if subconsciously 
practices hetero-suggestion on others. 

Everything in the world is mental. The car you 
ride in — the house you live in — the bed you sleep 



YOU 39 

in — the clothes you wear — these things — all of 
them — were mental pictures in the mind of some 
man somewhere before they became realities. 

Do you find any difficulty in accepting that 
thought? 

If you do, stop here and think. Don't proceed 
until you can understand and accept the basic fact 
that all things material and all human action first 
find their source in the human mind. 

I am not going to devote very much time to prov- 
ing this because I feel it is far better to leave it 
to you to verify. The lesson will be stronger. 

Accepting the fact that the human mind is the 
source of all things, good and bad, we must pass 
back to "You." 

You want certain things from Life — what they 
are we will go into later — are you getting these 
things now? 

No. You are not. 



40 YOU 

If you were satisfied, you wouldn't be studying 

"You." 



Very well, then there must be something wrong. 
What is it? 

You have within you today all of the faculties 
and powers that others have — you have all the 
time there is. 

Why aren't you getting out of life the things 
that are due you? 

If you hadn't exercised your muscles for years, 
you'd hardly expect to be as strong as a trained 
athlete, would you? 

Certainly not. And that's what's wrong. Mind, 
like muscle, develops with exercise and the trouble 
with you is that you haven't developed and put 
into harness the mental powers that will pull 
you ahead. 

Mind, I don't say that you haven't developed 
certain of these powers. But I do say and mean 



YOU 41 

that you must have even all around development 
and then have them all harnessed and under in- 
stant control to get out of them the maximum 
results. 

It may be that your Powers are developed — that 
you lack a Plan. In either case, before we close 
these covers, your need will be supplied. 

Are you just " reading' ' this work or are you 
understanding it? 

In other words, are you more or less indulging 
your curiosity or are you honestly looking in these 
pages for a plan which will be of help to you ! 

If it's the former, close the book. Mere curiosity 
never produces the things the Law makes possible. 
Only an earnest search for self-help reveals the 
ways and means. 

■ -i 
If you're in earnest, the Law will help you help 

yourself. If you're looking for a magic recipe 

for progress without effort, Death will find you 

still searching. 



TEXT FOUR 

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM LIFE? 

I have asked scores of men that question, "What 
do you want from Life?" 

The almost invariable answer is " Success.' ' 

But Success carries more definitions than all the 
rest of the words in the dictionary put together. 

With one man we find one definition and another 
a totally different one. 

And with the majority of men, we find no real 
definition at all. 

The first real step toward a successful life is a 
decision as to what you really and specifically 
expect and want from the time you spend on this 
earth. - 



YOU 43 

You are here for a span of years. God gave you 
an allotted time with which to do. 

If you started out for a ten-day walk without a 
destination, where would you land? 

You don't know. But you do know that you 
wouldn't go as far or find as choice a place as 
if you settled on your objective before you started 
on your journey. 

Most of us are traveling through life without a 
destination. We are wandering here and there 
— getting off the road and never getting back — 
following blind lanes and wandering tracks — is 
it any wonder that we seek some Power to guide 
our footsteps? 

Success to the unthinking majority of humanity 
means "Money." 

But " Money" is just a cloak behind which many 
things both good and evil dwell. 

1 'Money" is not Success. 



44 YOU 

And yet, the man who makes a success achieves 
financial independence with less effort and strife 
than the being who makes Money his God. 

In the beginning when pockets are empty and 
stomachs crying for food, Money calls — Money is 
necessary. 

But when money begins to come in quantities 
sufficient to defray these needs, then comes, too, 
the parting of the ways.- 

Money having eased the pangs of hunger and 
fended off the cold and sun, to one man becomes 
the purchase price of luxury — bodily ease and 
he pursues it even unto a passion. 

But the wiser man halts and reflects and realizes 
that the Power which has enabled him to achieve 
Money can be expended in other directions which 
will bring him that greatest of all things — the 
one of the two that Money can't buy — and that 
thing is Contentment. 

This is not a sermon. It is an attempt to help you 



YOU 45 

settle something — to settle a point which left un- 
settled is a barrier to achievement. 

You must have a clear, distinct idea of what you 
want. 

Then you must work to that point. 

That method is as sure and scientific and sensible 
as having a goal in view when you start on a 
journey. 

You have already started on your journey through 
Life, but the time to settle on and decide your 
goal is — now. 

Here. Let's see if our minds meet. 

The men I know who get the most out of Life 
have achieved three things — not one — but three. 

First of all — they are contented — not with the 
bovine complacency of a cow chewing her cud in 
a field, but with the contentment of a strong mind 
that is interested in all things about it — that sees 



46 YOU 

the good in everything and withstands the shocks 
and stress of Life as the lighthouse repels the 
buffets of the storm. 

Then — their bodies are strong and well, like their 
minds — they are not subject to the little ills and 
weaknesses that are the sharp stones on the physi- 
cal path — not entirely blocking the way, but mak- 
ing it rough and unpleasant. They are masters 
of their bodies where most of humanity are mas- 
tered by the flesh. 

And — these men are financially independent — 
some of them very wealthy — others modestly so — 
but all possessed of earning power or income suf- 
ficient for their needs and that of their families. 

Does that sound like a sensible definition of Suc- 
cess? 

Is it your definition? 

Health — Independence — Happiness. 

Do you want them? 



YOU 47 

They are the destinations toward which "You" 
has been compiled as a short cut. They are the 
destinations that insure arrival. 

* * * * Stop reading for five minutes 
and think this over * * * * Settling 
your objective is more important 
at this moment than the means of 
getting there * * * * 

Once you have settled on your objective, you must 
realize an important truth which constitutes the 
next step of progress. 

That is, you must eventually place yourself where 
you are doing work for which you are best fitted 
and prepared — the work which you enjoy, and 
so do better than the work in which you do not 
find interest. 

Eight here, let us recognize the fact that many 
people's idea of an ideal business is one where 
all they have to do is come down each day and 
sort the checks out of the morning mail and can 
even delegate that duty to somebody else. 



48 YOU 

Work which you enjoy doing is the kind that is 
suited to your temperament — to your training and 
your ideas. And in recommending that you seek 
this kind of employment I do so with the full 
knowledge that you will probably work twice as 
hard when you find your niche as you do now. 

This is not to be done in a minute or a month — 
it is something to be studied and contemplated 
and watched for. And don't think for a moment 
that there is only one place in the world where 
you can find congenial employment. There are 
scores of vocations — hundreds of establishments 
into which you will fit like a hand fits a glove. 

My experience has been that in this contempla- 
tion of employment, the majority of men, their 
eyes opened, find in the daily task in which they 
are engaged, just exactly what they had been look- 
ing far afield for. In the search for green pas- 
tures, they have overlooked the wonderful meadow 
in which they stood. 

In fact, the main object of this recommendation is 
to make you look about, compare what you are 



YOU 49 

now engaged in wit hwhat yon wonld like to 
do, and see if Opportunity does not really lie 
in your own hand instead of across the continent. 

Then, from the personal side, you must consider 
your friends — your circle of influence — what are 
you gaining from them — what are you giving them 
in return? 

Is your time profitably spent when you are with 
others? Or, are you wasting it in the company 
of people who never can and never will help you 
progress either mentally or otherwise. 

If not, you must seek friends, new acquaintances 
— people whose flint meets your mental steel and 
strikes the spark of new ideas — new thoughts — 
enjoyment and happiness. 

And as you progress in the work and develop 
within yourself the forces of the Law, you will 
find it a simple matter to choose your friends 
from the people you want to know and have, 
rather than accepting the acquaintances that 
chance sends your way. 



50 YOU 

This is not a lecture on the selection of friends 
with a view to their habits or morality or any 
of the other things which convention sets as the 
model. 

A man may be possessed of morals which you 
would shrink from, but his mind, on the other 
hand, may have qualities which you need to make 
contact with. If you establish the practice of 
taking from people the good things they have 
to give and simply not accepting the evil, you 
are acting in accordance with the Law and will 
gain profit from every human with whom you 
make contact. 

Your circle of acquaintances is your Cir- 
cle of Influence. All things which are 
born in mind of man must come through 
men. 

— Stop. Keflect for five minutes and 
see if you can think of anything you 
want which can come to you through 
any source but the hands of other 
men — 



YOU 51 

From man you are going to receive and so to 
man yon must give. 

You can not expect to receive and not give in 
return. 

The Law will not permit. 

Some people have entered upon this Work with 
the idea of self-profit — something for nothing. 
They are predestined to failure, unless they 
change their point of view. 

For, since the Work contemplates many things 
besides mere money and worldly acquisition, it 
must of necessity be based upon an exchange of 
values. 

If you and I trade dollar for dollar, neither 
profits. 

But if you give me an idea and I give you one, 
both profit. 

There it is. From Men you expect many things 



52 YOU 

and will gain what you want. In return you 
must pay out your Powers and not try to make 
it a one-sided bargain. 

For the man who starts out to cheat the world 
swindles himself. 

You've lived a long time. Have you ever seen 
something for nothing? 

No. And you never will. 

What you sow you reap. The Law does not and 
will not enable you to get something for nothing. 
To acquire the Law and put it to work for you 
takes study and application. 

This study and application is the price you pay 
for the knowledge of the Law. And what it does 
for you is your return. 

Eemember. You must give to get. 

I am talking of millions because most people look 
first at the money side of the achievement. But 



YOU 53 

that man's measure of happiness — his physical 
well-being — his interest in life — have never waned 
— his faith has never been shaken. He is a suc- 
cessful man — always has been and would be 
wealthier without a penny in his pocket than most 
men with a million in the bank. 

I am not going into details of cases which have 
come under my observation — of salesmen who 
have become corporation presidents — of unhappy 
men of wealth burdened down with care and 
sickness who have become strong and well and 
happy. Suffice to say that I believe — thoroughly 
believe in my own case and that of many with 
which I am familiar — that the Law has worked 
miracles which the magicians of old would have 
hesitated to attempt. 

Really the whole plan of our mental house 
— the place of Light — has been outlined in this 
text. 

But, as I said before, between you and the use of 
the Law lies a bridge of study which you must 
cross. 



54 YOU 

The Prevailing Mental Attitude will come as the 
result of the development of your powers in the 
proper channels. 

They will be treated later. The next thing that 
confronts us is the question — which of your 
Powers effect the working of the Law and ' * How ' ' 
to develop them? 

Your present mental glasses must be cleared of 
the traditions and precedents of conventional life 
— you must be placed in a position to view things 
through the vision of a complete understanding. 

Now that the story has been all told, yet just 
begun, I am going to ask you to reserve your 
decision until you finish the work. 

For — the mental garment can not really be tried 
on until it is completely unfolded — until the last 
page has been scanned. 

Then — you can decide whether or not you want 
to wear it — whether or not it offers you more than 
any belief yet advanced. 



TEST FIVE 

THE LAW — 

Now for the Law — 

The Law is intangible, but not mysterious. It is 
plain — simple — everyday — not magic, although, 
properly used, more powerful in its effects than 
magic ever claimed to be. 

There 's a danger in explaining the Law — a danger 
directly attributable to its simplicity. 

A man from a small town out West went to New 
York City, and, through a combination of specu- 
lation and propitious times, became in a very short 
space of time a multi-millionaire. Even in Man- 
hattan he became an outstanding figure both on 
account of his wealth and the way he spent it. 

A citizen from the same town from which the 

55 



56 YOU 

millionaire speculator had migrated, came by 
chance to New York and heard on every side of 
the miraculous rise of Mr., we'll call him "Smith" 
because that isn't his name. 

Mr. Citizen, drinking in the marvel tales of 
Smith's wealth and financial daring, pictured in 
his mind a man at least ten feet tall with a brain 
that called for a number nine hat to compass the 
head that housed it. 

One day, walking on the street, the companion of 
the man from out West pointed out the occupant 
of a big motor car that was rolling leisurely down 
Fifth Avenue. "There goes Smith, the great 
speculator," he said. Mr. Man from out West 
took a look— -rubbed his eyes and looked 
again. 

Then he said, in a tone weighted down with tons 
of disappointment, "That's no millionaire. He's 
just Lem Smith from out our way." 

Years of familiarity with the figure of Lem Smith 
hitching up a ragged pair of blue overalls and 



YOU 57 

climbing on the farmer's grain wagons to inspect 
their loads had stripped all romance — all the 
mystery of the unknown from the man riding in 
the limousine. He couldn't be a millionaire — 
because — he was just everyday, commonplace Lem 
Smith. 

Familiarity breeds a lack of perspective. 

And this principle applies to explaining the Law. 

You know the Law — it's simple as A, B, C. And 
since it must be applied to everyday life and 
everyday problems it is an everyday force. 

And when it is laid before you, in spite of the 
preparation you have had, the chances are you 
will say, "That's not a Law — it's something I've 
known all my life." 

And you'll be partly wrong, partly right. It is 
the Law, and it is something you've known all 
your life. 

A man may know that property holds gold, but 



58 YOU 

if he doesn't mine it and cash the ore he profiteth 

not one penny. 

The great Law is this : 

SUCCESS COMES TO THE MAN WHO GIVES 
MORE THAN HE RECEIVES. 

Eleven words — and it is the key that opens every 
door. 

You must give more than you receive — not receive 
more than you give. 

There it is — all laid out before you. 

And the chances are that you are disappointed. 

But I'll help you out — give you an inkling of 
what the Law means. 

The merchant who gives his customers best values 
does the largest business. 

The man — who, practicing the Law, gives always 
more than he receives — is sought by other men. 



YOU 59 

The true operation of the Law attracts friends, 
happiness and success because it is based on 
values — on a world-old foundation, the roots of 
which sink deep into the hearts and minds of 
all humanity. 

When you follow the Law — when you give more 
than you receive — the things you want come to 
you without being sought — the Law attracts them 
to you. 

Stop. Dismiss for a moment all the 
unanswered points that are in your mind 
and settle one vital question: 

Do you see how, by giving more than 
you receive, you naturally attract to 
yourself the things you want from Life? 

Do not read on until you believe you 
understand the principle of giving more 
than you receive as a medium of ex- 
change. 

The one thing that makes it difficult for you to 



60 YOU 

consider the Law in its true light lies in the fact 
that if you have a logical mind, a big question 
arises. You say, "How is it possible for me to 
give more than I receive and not go mentally 
bankrupt?" 

Eight there is a peculiar angle to the Law. 
What you give to humanity of course comes from 
your mind and brain. What your mind and brain 
receive and store comes from humanity. 

Go back and read that again. Then, mark this. 

A bank receives money from you and pays back 
that money with interest. The things your men- 
tality receives from humanity bear a high rate 
of interest in the bank of your mind, and you are 
thereby enabled to pay out more than you receive. 

Do you get the thought? A merchant buys goods 
and sells them at less than cost. If he follows 
this practice, he goes bankrupt. 

Another merchant buys goods, places on them 
a profit which enables him to give far better values 



YOU 61 

than his competitors and still prospers, makes 
money and grows. 

In your practice of the Law, the things you re- 
ceive from mankind must bear a mental profit — 
mental interest — this is the one thing that enables 
you to practice the Law. 

The man who accepts the Law at its face and 
starts practicing it without regard to the neces- 
sary understanding and training faces the possi- 
bility of mental bankruptcy — of gathering a mis- 
cellaneous mental stock of odds and ends that are 
not marketable or acceptable — although he may 
try to give more than he receives, he is not prac- 
ticing the Law. 

The formula for running a successful foot race 
is, ' ' Go faster than your competitors. ' ' 

But it takes study and practice to follow the 
formula. 

The Law for Success is, "Give more than you re- 
ceive to attract the things you want." 



62 YOU 

But yon can no more expect to put the Law into 
instant practice by simply following the formula 
than you could expect, without preparation and 
practice, to go out and win a foot race by obeying 
the injunction to run faster than the other 
fellow. 

There are two reasons, which I have found well- 
nigh universal, why the Law is not used to a far 
greater extent. The first lies in the fact that it 
is simple and lacks the element of mystery that 
most people think should surround all powerful 
forces, people and things. The second reason is 
that some people try to use it without a complete 
understanding and consequently fail. 

The reason why these texts occupy a number of 
pages instead of one sheet is simply to give you 
the things necessary to enable you to use the Law 
intelligently and effectively. 

And surely the time necessary to fully understand 
and apply this great Law is not ill spent when 
you consider that it removes all the outside ob- 
stacles to progress and is well-nigh insurance of 



YOU 63 

a contented, an independent and a successful 
life. 

Now you have the Law. But this is merely the 
beginning, and if you continue in the work, the 
end of life, in spite of achievements, will find you 
still learning — still a student of the Law. 

No man ever graduates — although all who take it 
up seriously and practice its tenets attain Success 
far beyond their early expectations. 

The moment you understand and begin to practice 
the Law things begin to come to you — with greater 
ease — less effort than before — you are beginning 
to give more than you receive. 

And the greater your progress — the higher your 
development — the larger the field — for the more 
you give the more you get. 

There is to me a very amusing side to this ex- 
position of the Law. 

I have watched people's faces when it was ex- 



64 YOU 

plained to them. Almost invariably, when the 
simple formula is unfolded, their jaws drop — 
disappointment is written in every line. 

They think immediately in terms of money — of 
giving more cash than they receive, which is, of 
course, ridiculous as the Law applies purely to 
mental things. 

Then, too, it never seems to occur to the average 
individual that he is not capable of applying and 
using the Law — that between the bare formula 
and the practice of and profiting by, lies a wide 
bridge of mental training and power development 
that the average man will never cross. 

The Law is the Light with which you must sur- 
round your mental dwelling. 

But — to be able to give — you must be trained 
to receive — to take in only the worthwhile things 
— the things which in your mental storehouse will 
bear interest and gain profit so that you can 
practice the Law by giving more than you have 
received. 



YOU 65 

Then — you must be able to store these things — 
to carry them without loss — to have them ready 
to bring forth and deliver when the occasion 
arises. 

And you must be able to give things to others 
in a manner which enhances their value — makes 
them clear and effective. 

To do this you must cultivate and develop 
certain Powers now more or less latent within 
you. 

The development of Power is the first step to 
the Law. 

Then your contact with humanity, and, most im- 
portant of all, your contact with yourself must 
be governed by what we term the Prevailing Men- 
tal Attitude. 

This Prevailing Mental Attitude has three com- 
plements — again we come to simple, everyday 
things — for these three parts are Selfism — Opti- 
mism and Egoism. 



66 YOU 

These three words have different meanings to 
many men. 

Forget the construction yon place on them. Ac- 
cept mine and yon have the Prevailing Mental 
Attitude necessary to the Law. 

Selfism is nothing more or less than the capitali- 
zation of time — work. But no ordinary expendi- 
ture of time — no haphazard labor — can bring back 
the results attained by Selfism under the Law. 

Optimism is belief — belief in the world and the 
successful outcome of everything — the recogni- 
tion of opportunity. H is part of your armament 
against reverses and setbacks — it is the spur to 
reach the good things and the defense against dis- 
heartening and weakening. 

The man who nature made an optimist in the ordi- 
nary sense of the word may fall into evil ways 
of dreaming — a foolish trust in men and life. 
Optimism under the Law is a far different and 
more forceful quality. It is the recognition of 
objectives — the belief in their existence for you. 



YOU 67 

Most men construe egoism as "conceit." Under 
the Law Egoism is belief in self — it banishes fear 
and worry — combined with Optimism and backed 
by Selfism and developed powers it makes you 
pioneer into the paths of profit — both mental and 
financial. 

I wonder if I am making myself clear? 

I want to impress upon you the fact that Opti- 
mism and Egoism and Selfism — or Work — are coin 
of the realm — true gold when they constitute the 
Prevailing Mental Attitude under the Law. And 
you must not judge them by the counterfeit coin 
which most people, not knowing what is behind, 
accept as the meaning of the words. 

In going back and reading this text, I was tempted 
to make changes — to confuse the issue a trifle and 
by so doing delay the real explanation of the Law 
until you were better prepared to receive if. On 
mature thought, however, I have let it stand as 
it is. Facts are facts and the Law is the Law. 
If you really want to progress you will go ahead 
and your mental reservations will melt away be- 



68 YOU 

fore the light of the Law as it completely unfolds 
itself. If you are so manacled by tradition and 
precedent and hampering thought that you are 
not willing to believe for the sake of self -progress 
— well, at any rate — it is all here for you to take 
or leave. 

Only today I listened to the story of a man who is 
a living, breathing exponent of the Law in a highly 
developed form. That man, starting from no- 
where, made millions — then lost all. Starting 
again — in the later years — in twelve months' time 
from five hundred dollars he acquired the mas- 
tery of millions — not through speculation or finan- 
cial manipulation, but through the Law as evi- 
denced and disseminated by his personality. 



TEXT SIX 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWER 

A contemplation of the qualities and forces ordi- 
narily accepted as essential to success reveals an 
appalling number — a hundred — two hundred, pos- 
sibly. 

Imagine trying to develop within yourself, say, a 
hundred and fifty different qualities. 

It's a task which, approached from that stand- 
point, is almost impossible. Too high a price 
to pay for even success. 

But when you begin to analyze and get down to 
basics, you will realize that most of these qualities 
and forces are by-products — offshoots from main 
branches. 

We are told that one hundred thousand different 

69 



70 YOU 

colors or hues can be distinguished by the human 
eye. This number multiplied by twenty possible 
shades of each hue makes two million possible 
color sensations. 

Now imagine an artist trying to have a color 
box with a tube of pigment for every shade. Two 
million tubes — why, his paint box would be bigger 
than the landscape. 

Yet all these two million tints can be pro- 
duced more or less successfully from the 
three simple primary colors — red, yellow and 
blue. 

The artist who has the primary colors can at- 
tempt any subject. 

The man who has the primary Powers can, 
through the combination of his fundamental 
forces, know that he is not lacking in any essen- 
tial for success. 

Do you get the idea? Instead of a lot of by- 
paths and side lanes, we are going to deal only 



YOU 71 

with basics — our color box will be small, but the 
possible combinations infinite. 

This not only simplifies study, but gives us 
more power, because we concentrate upon the 
primaries — the things from which all others 
spring. 

So, with the Law as our governor, we analyze 
to find what Powers are necessary to its successful 
prosecution. 

Your Brain is your Working Mechanism — 

Your Mind is Master of You — 

The Law embraces both. 

The Powers necessary to progress must be the 
result of training of your Brain. 

But the Prevailing Mental Attitude and the ac- 
tions must come from your Mind. 

Your Mind must accept the Work and dismiss 



72 YOU 

all outside and destructive influences — it must or- 
der the Brain to work to train itself to receive 
and to store and to give. 

And with the training of the Brain comes the abil- 
ity to order and control the Mind — one is so much 
a part of the other that it is difficult to tell where 
each ends and the other begins. 

But a trained Brain and a Master Mind go to- 
gether. 

The first step is a Mental one — a function of the 
Mind. 

You are now reading this work and passing on 
its application to you and your life. Your Mind 
— the Master of the House — must accept its tenets 
and its necessity and order the Brain to do the 
necessary work to develop it. 

Acceptance — Belief — is mental. And that comes 
first. 

We will return to that subject later. 



YOU 73 

Now let ns consider the Law in relation to your 
present Mental development — let us see what is 
there and what is lacking. 

The Law contemplates receiving — sorting out the 
wheat from the chaff — storing the wheat — multi- 
plying it and then giving forth more than you 
have received. 

Let's analyze step by step. 

First of all, you are to receive from the world — 
ideas — thoughts — suggestions — sensations — • 

To really receive anything you must Concentrate. 
Very well, then the first quality which you need — 
the first Power to develop — must be Concentra- 
tion. 

And Concentration is essential in all parts of the 
work — once acquired it is always available. 

Now if your Mentality — I use that term for lack 
of a better one to cover both Mind and Brain — 
accepts everything which the world offers, it is 



74 YOU 

going to take in odds and ends, useless things, 
evil and good, a miscellaneous mass of matter 
which will look like a Mental White Elephant Sale. 

So — as a guard at the portals of your Mind we 
must put some Power that will distinguish be- 
tween the things you w r ant to let in and the 
things you want to keep out. That Power will 
be — Judgment. Not Judgment in the ordinary 
sense of the word, but Judgment in the broader 
sense that covers business and body and mind. 

Having provided that only the good and construc- 
tive things shall enter your Mentality, we must 
see that these things are retained in your store- 
house — not dissipated or permitted to fade away. 
Memory does this for us — a cultivated Memory 
— not the freak kind that memorizes a four-col- 
umn, fifteen-depth set of figures at a glance, but 
the practical Memory that retains and holds, ready 
for instant use, the things we need. 

With Concentration and Judgment and Memory, 
we have reached the point of disseminating to 
others the things we have gained from the world, 



YOU 75 

plus the interest and profit our Mentality has 
added. 

You reach other men indirectly through your Per- 
sonality — your direct medium of contact — the rails 
over which your thoughts travel — is Speech. 

Then — you need Effective Speech. 

There you have the fundamentals — the primaries 
— instead of a half hundred or so — the sim- 
ple basics — Concentration — Judgment — Memory 
— and Effective Speech — just four Primary 
Powers. 

Your Personality — that intangible something that 
makes people believe in you and like you and seek 
you without a spoken word — your Personality is 
You. 

And, under the Law, your Personality is your 
Prevailing Mental Attitude — Selfism — Optimism 
and Egoism. 

These things have been spoken of before. They 



76 YOU 

will be treated of again. For the present we will 
let them rest. They are forces which act on you 
and on others — they are forces which capitalize 
and bring into active play the Powers of your 
Brain. They are the battering-rams which break 
through Failure and reveal Success — the search- 
lights which dissipate the darkness of Fear. 

And right in the development of the Powers- 
pursued according to this Plan, the Prevailing 
Mental Attitude necessary to the practice of the 
Law is created — almost without conscious effort. 

Now comes the actual study. The texts which 
follow are the "How" — they relate closely to the 
development of your Powers and the practice of 
the Law. 

Your Brain must be trained — the higher the 
training the more efficient it becomes, the more 
you can give the world and the more thereby will 
be attracted to you. 

But between the mere precepts of this book and 
the actual incorporating of the qualities and 



YOU 77 

powers and practice into your daily life stands 
the Master of the House — your Mind. 

Will your Mind accept — will it bid your Brain 
take hold? 

Upon the answer to that question depends your 
whole success or failure with the Law. 

Some men will question the fact that Will Power 
has been omitted in this work as one of the funda- 
mentals. It has not been omitted. It is present 
on every page. If a man 's Mind accepts the Law 
and puts his Brain to work on the Powers, by 
the very pursuit of the study of the Law a Will 
greater than any mortal 's is put back of your 
efforts. 

If your own Will is too weak to make you study 
the Law without training, then your Will is too 
weak to make you study the training of the Will. 

Putting these truths in cold type is a peculiar 
proposition. This Work was built to be studied 
— not read. 



78 YOU 

Yet I must recognize the fact that most people 
will read it first to judge whether or not it holds 
for them the things they want. 

I am more than willing that that should be done. 
If you were the writer and I were the reader, I 
should probably follow the same course. 

But the study part is all-important. Irrespective 
of how valuable the Work may appear to you on 
first reading, I say and know that it is the truth, 
that study will reveal meanings between the lines 
— hidden things that to you are rarer and more 
precious than gold and silver. 

These are not my ideas — my discoveries. They 
are the result of the Eesearch work of Science 
— the Mind of Mankind. And I say that you can 
profit because I have. 

There are other things in the work which will 
come later — things on which I shall not touch 
here in the first part of the book — helps to the 
quicker and more efficient practice of the other 
things. 



YOU 79 

Now you may today be master of the Powers — 
you may be ready to start in the application of 
the Law. 

But we must find out. 

Or, rather — you must find out. 

So — suppose we analyze — You. 

The next text provides a simple method. 



TEXT SEVEN 

THE TESTS OF SELF 

If you walked into a doctor's office, and, without 
turning his head to look, he waved his hand at 
a shelf full of various medicines and said, 
"Take 'em all and you'll be cured!" the chances 
are you'd turn on your heel and walk out 
again. 

Now I don't want you to walk away from this 
book in disgust, so right here we are going 
to stop and make a diagnosis — at least, you 
are. 

At the close of the last text, emphasis was laid 
upon the importance of a proper analysis of your 
present mind-qualities and brain-power with a 
view to locating strengths and weaknesses- 
points to let alone and things to work upon. 

80 



YOU 81 

If you were to consult a good psychologist, he 
would probably base his diagnosis on your an- 
swers to certain questions. 

There is no good reason why you cannot do this 
same thing yourself. In fact, there is no doubt 
in my mind but what, with a little thought and 
time, you can make the tests yourself even more 
accurately than a second person could. 

It is, of course, understood that upon the honesty 
and elimination of self-deceit from your answers 
depends the value of the tests. 

Practically every reader will first read this book 
through; then, if the Law appeals, will go back 
and take up its study seriously. Recognizing this 
fact, it is recommended that the tests which follow 
should not be applied until you have bird's-eyed 
the entire work by at least one reading. 

By pursuing this plan you can come back and 
apply the tests in a really intelligent manner and 
with full knowledge of what they are based on 
and designed for. 



82 YOU 

Space has been provided following each test for 

your findings. 

The First Tests are on Brain Development under 
the Law. 



Concentration Test: 

(a) What sport, game or pastime are you ab- 
sorbingly interested in? 

Answer (a) 

(b) Can you, while watching or playing this game, 
so absorb yourself as to entirely dismiss from 
your mind everything apart from the object of 
your interest? 

Answer (b) 

(c) What one thing do you especially dislike to 
do? 

Answer (c) 

(d) Can you, when you do desire, so direct your 



YOU 83 
attention on this thing (answer c) that you bring 
all your faculties to bear on it, excluding all out- 
side things? 
Answer (d) 

Note: Taking your answer to question (b) as 
denoting 100% Concentration, grade yourself by 
comparison with answer (d). We naturally con- 
centrate on the things we like to do, and find it 
difficult to concentrate on things we dislike or are 
not interested in. 
% Grade on Concentration. 



Judgment Test: 

(a) After things have happened, can you reason 
out easily what would have been a proper course 
of action? 

Answer (a) 

(b) When problems are up to you for solution, 
do you reason them out, or guess at their solu- 
tion? 

Answer (b) 



84 YOU 

(c) If you reason them out, do you draw upon 
past experience, your knowledge of right and 
wrong, similar situations you have heard about, 
etc.? 

Answer (c) 

(d) Are the majority of your important moves 
in life the result of deliberation or impulse? 
Answer (d) 

(e) Do you "act first" and "think afterward," 
or vice versa? 

Answer (e) 

Note: Since "Judgment" is foresight or "hind- 
sight reversed," and the man who thinks before 
he acts and brings to bear on his problems past 
experience, both personal and hearsay, may be 
said to be employing "judgment" and "fore- 
sight," it will be easy to grade yourself on "judg- 
ment" from your answers to the questions above. 
% Grade on Judgment. 



YOU 85 

Memory Test: 

(a) Do you remember the names and faces which 
it is important that you should remember? 
Answer (a) 

(b) Do you experience any difficulty in calling to 
mind vital facts at critical moments, facts which 
should be at your command? 

Answer (b) 

(c) Can you approach any situation, manuscript, 
interview, etc., knowing in advance that you will 
be able to remember all of the salient facts and 
retain them, not verbatim, but in sensed 
Answer (c) 

(d) Does your memory fail you on any important 
score? 

Answer (d) 

Note: Bearing in mind that Memory can be 
graded only in its relation to the important things 
of life and business, if your answers to the first 
three questions above are affirmative and to the 



86 YOU 

last question negative, then yon can give yourself 

an excellent grade on Memory. 

% Grade on Memory. 



Test for Effectiveness of Speech: 

(a) Can you transmit the thoughts from your 
mind via words so that your meaning is clear to 
the listener? 

Answer (a) 

(b) Do you have any difficulty in assembling your 
thoughts and making them clear in words? 
Answer (b) 

(c) Can you hold a listener's interest sheerly 
through your words and the manner of de- 
livery? 

Answer (c) 

(d) Can you judge of the effect of what you say 
and the way you say it while you are speaking? 
Answer (d) 



YOU 87 
(e) What is your greatest weakness in endeavor- 
ing to speak effectively? 
Answer (e) ,. 

Note : In grading yourself on the effectiveness of 
your speech, bear in mind that the secret of good 
talking lies not only in the manner of delivery, 
but in your ability to make your thoughts clear 
and hold your listeners. 
% Grade on Effectiveness of Speech. 



The following tests are on the Mental Group of 
essential complements under the Law: 

Prevailing Mental Attitude Test: 

(a) Is your Mental Attitude or " State of Mind" 
even and unaffected by people or events, or do 
different things affect you keenly and raise or 
dampen your spirits? 

Answer (a) 

(b) Do you at times become greatly enthused? 
Answer (b) . . • . 



88 YOU 

(c) Do yon at times become depressed? 
Answer (c) 

(d) Do yon exercise or attempt to exercise any 
conscious control over yonr " state of mind"? 
Have you devoted any time, thought or effort to 
this subject? 

Answer (d) 

% Tests on Component Parts of Prevailing 

Mental Attitude. 



Test for Selfism Under the Law: 

(a) Do you enjoy your work? 

Answer (a) 

(b) Are you interested in your work? 
Answer (b) - 

(c) If not, what kind of work would interest you? 
Answer (c) 

(d) Do you know this, or do you just think so? 
Answer (d) i 



YOU 89 

(e) How do you know? 

Answer (e) 

(f) Why do you not engage in this other, work? 
Answer (f ) 

(g) If you really took an interest in your present 
work, would you not enjoy it? 

Answer (g) 

(h) How many hours a day do you work? 
Answer (h) 

(i) Of this time what part do you honestly 

feel is put into real intelligent, well-organized 

effort? 

Answer (i) 

(j) If you studied your work and organized your 

work, what would be the result — if you took the 

same interest in it that you do in your favorite 

recreation? 

Answer ( j) 

(k) Are you honestly giving your employer more 



90 YOU 

than you receive — in fact, are you giving him all 

that you are capable of? 

Answer (k) 

% Grade on Selfism. 



Test for Optimism Under the Law: 

(a) Do you believe that Opportunity lies all about 
you? 

Answer (a) 

(b) Do you believe that you can make Oppor- 
tunity and attract Opportunity? 

Answer (b) 

(c) Do you know that the world holds whatever 
you seek? 

Answer (c) 

% Grade on Optimism. 



Test for Egoism Under the Law. 

(a) Do you believe in yourself? 
Answer (a) 



YOU 91 

(b) Do you believe that you can do anything that 
other men can? 

Answer (b) 

(c) Do you realize and believe that within yourself 
is full power for wealth, happiness and content? 

Answer (c) 

% Grade on Egoism. 



Test for Mental Control Under the Law: 

(a) Do you Fear? 

Answer (a) 

(b) Do you Doubt? 

Answer (b) 

(c) Do you worry? 

Answer (c) 

(d) Do you permit yourself to become angry or 
envious or hate people? 

Answer (d) 



92 YOU 

(e) Do you realize that Fear, Doubt, Worry, 
Anger, Envy, Hate and all such emotions are 
destructive ? 

Answer (e) 

(f) Have you ever profited by experiencing any 
of the above emotions? 

Answer (f ) 

(g) Have not most of the things you Feared, 
Doubted or Worried about never come to pass? 
Answer (g) 

(h) Have you ever taken any steps or made any 
moves to eliminate these destructive influences 
from your Life? 

Answer (h) 

% Grade on Mental Mastery. 



Tests for Mastery of Self from the Physical Side 
Under the Law: 

(a) Are your habits of living regularly healthful? 



YOU 93 
( Eating — Sleeping— Breathing — Exercising and 
Kecreating?) 
Answer (a) 

(b) Have you ever had any really serious illness 
which had permanent bad effects on your 
body? 

Answer (b) 

(c) Do you suffer from many minor ailments? 
Answer (c) 

(d) Are you a steady user of pills and nos- 
trums? 

Answer (d) 

(e) Is your physical condition satisfactory to your- 
self? 

Answer (e) 

(f) Have you ever exercised mental control to 
head off minor ills ? 

Answer (f ) 

% Grade on Physical Mastery. 



94 YOU 

General Tests Under the Lww: 

(a) What is your definition of Success in Life? 
Answer (a) 

(b) Are you achieving this Success! 1 

Answer (b) 

(c) If not, what influences are holding you 
back? 

Answer (c) 

(d) Do you enjoy living every moment, every 
hour? 

Answer (d) 

(e) Are you contented and happy (not satis- 
fied)? 

Answer (e) 

(f) Are you willing to believe any constructive 
belief for the sake of progress? 

Answer (f ) 

(g) To what extent are you today practicing the 



YOU 95 

Law in your daily life — giving more than you are 

receiving! 

Answer (g) 

(h) Are you really qualified to give more than 

you receive? 

Answer (h) 

(i) Are you happy, contented and prosperous? 
Answer (i) 

(j) If so, are you certain you always will be? 
Answer (j) 

(k) If not, do you really want to be? 

Answer (k) 

% Grade on General Test. 



To obtain an average, total the % Grades you 
give yourself and divide by eleven. 

This ends the tests. They are necessarily brief 
and cover simply the high spots. On first read- 



96 YOU 

ing they may seem superficial, but a second perusal 
in light of the understanding gained from a read- 
ing of the book will reveal a world of thought 
and field for self-analysis in thoughtful answers 
to these questions. A blank page has been pro- 
vided for the man who wishes to cast a balance 
on his own diagnosis of himself and plan proper 
action. 



TEXT EIGHT 

BRAIN BUILDING 

This is an extra chapter — written and inserted 
after this work had been completed. 

It has no particular mission to perform, never- 
theless, I feel that as an explanation it will prove 
of interest. 

The next four texts cover the Brain Habits or 
faculties that mean most to the average person 
— things which are vitally important yet reach 
only a very mediocre state of development with 
the majority of humanity. 

Concentration — Memory — Speech — Judgment. 
With these four faculties developed just a little 
above the average, you have a combination which 
in conjunction with the practice of the Law means 

97 



98 YOU 

to you almost anything you may choose to make 
it represent. 

Concentration is the short cut to doing things 

quickly yet doing them well — the magic which 

makes the grasping of facts, the acquiring of 
knowledge easy and sure. 

Memory represents reception and retention, not 
only of the things you want to remember, but 
the incidents and happenings, seemingly unim- 
portant at the time, which constitute that most 
invaluable asset — Experience. 

Speech— effective speech insures the delivery of 
your thoughts to other minds, clear and without 
loss — gives you adequate representation wherever 
words are needed and insures you the interest of 
your listeners. 

Judgment is not only the guard at your mental 
gates, but the capitalization of your Experience 
— combined with the habit of Forethought it en- 
ables you to practically mold Tomorrow's hap- 
penings by virtue of your deeds Today. 



YOU 99 

The possibilities opened by the development of 
these four faculties are so tremendous that they 
spell almost the difference between Success and 
Failure in Life. 

Many readers of this work will question why in 
this, a volume relating to the mental side of life, 
the brain side — yes, brain building — should be 
introduced. 

My answer is simply this: The finer your Con- 
centration, the better your Memory, the more 
easily you will receive, record and understand 
the Law. The more mature your Judgment, the 
more possibilities you will see within the Law 
for your own success and happiness. And since 
a large part of your contact with your fellow 
man is expressed through the medium of the 
spoken word, the more clearly your speech re- 
flects to hearers the workings, the manifestations 
of the Law within you, the more it will con- 
tribute to your progress. 

There, then, are the reasons for Brain Building, 
in this, a work dealing with mind development. 



100 YOU 

Literally thousands of volumes have been written 
on these four subjects. Courses of tuition total- 
ing hundreds and hundreds of pages have been 
prepared about them. The mass of available 
material would constitute several years' reading. 

And against this veritable deluge of printed 
words, I submit — four little texts — less than fifty 
pages all told! 

And strange to say, I am not apologizing. On 
the contrary, I feel that just exactly one-half 
of the necessary material is here — in these four 
texts. 

And the other half is available in only one place 
— and that place is within you, yourself — seek it 
there and you will find it — look elsewhere and you 
will go astray. 

My sole aim has been to give you a clear under- 
standing of what the various faculties are and 
the principles governing their development. 

Once you really understand the content of each 



you 101 

text, the rest is a matter of application — of de- 
velopment according to your own personal needs 
and requirements. 

The methods given are sound and the results pos- 
sibly depend entirely upon the man or woman who 
uses them. 

And if you find them short and shorn of much 
verbiage which usually adorns these subjects, re- 
member that they are advanced as methods and 
methods only — and that I have tried to refrain 
from wasting the most valuable and least valued 
commodity in the world — Time. 



TEXT NINE 

CONCENTRATION CULTIVATION 

Several years ago, I used to play billiards with 
a chap in Chicago. He was a student of the game ; 
experts admitted that he understood its theories 
— but — he played poorly — was erratic and uncer- 
tain. He knew the shots but couldn't execute 
them. 

On a recent trip to New York, I ran across him 
and, after lunching at a club, we repaired to the 
billiard room. After half an hour — the major 
portion of which I stood in amazement watching 
him unerringly score long runs, I put up my cue 
and asked the question that was in my mind. 

"What's the answer ?" I queried. 

He laughed as he replied: 

"Very simple.' ' He was perfectly serious about 

102 



YOU 103 

it. "As you know, I always loved billiards and 
made a study of it — learned the shots and angles 
from a theoretical standpoint, but when it came 
to executing them, I failed. One day, for some 
reason or other, I found myself concentrating — 
the shots came off beautifully and since then I've 
been — well, concentrating, if you please, and that's 
all there is to it." 

So much for billiards. 

I have watched a clerk fuss and fume and struggle 
with small problems and spend the greater part 
of the day trying to perform a task. I have seen 
really big business men forget everybody about 
them, everything but the problem at hand and by 
their power of Concentration, do in thirty minutes 
more work than their subordinates could struggle 
through in a day. Now mind, I don't say that 
the faculty of Concentration makes big business 
men any more than it makes a good billiard player 
— nevertheless, in both, you will find that 
quality. 

In fact, in every pursuit, pastime or phase of 



104 YOU 

active life where brain or mind is active, Con- 
centration is a short cut to efficiency. 

With the ability to Concentrate, almost anything 
is possible. 

Without the ability to Concentrate, your powers 
are scattered and discounted. 

I feel very strongly that the main reason why 
the average man fails in Concentration, is the 
fact that he does not have a clear mental picture 
either of what Concentration does or what it is. 

And since nothing can be acquired without un- 
derstanding, the first step must be to clearly un- 
derstand and thoroughly analyze this brain qual- 
ity. 

The following simile is the best I have found to 
give a clear mental picture of Concentration. 

The rays of the sun are pleasant and warm. 

You take a burning-glass and focus these rays 



YOU 105 

and they almost instantly set fire to or char the 
things they touch. 

Your brain powers, when you reach the point 
where you really Concentrate, become intensified 
— yes — almost multiplied. 

Like the rays of the sun brought through the 
burning-glass, the moment they focus on a prob- 
lem — a question — a task — they melt away diffi- 
culties and give instant action. 

Concentration, then, is the " burning glass" — the 
intensifier by the use of which you get out of 
your brain all of the value — all of the ability you 
possess. 

You have a problem at hand — a question — a task 
— no matter what it is. You Concentrate — Con- 
centration reaches into every crack and cranny 
of your mind, converges every faculty toward 
the common center and the result is quick, efficient 
action. 

Concentration clears your vision by eliminating 



106 YOU 

all things not pertinent to that which you are 
concentrating on. 

If you were looking through a telescope at a man 
some distance away and bees and birds flew in 
front of the lens, and people walked continually 
across your line of vision, you'd find it pretty 
difficult to closely watch the movements of the 
man you were observing, wouldn't you? 

The man who works without real Concentration 
is in much this fix — outside things — noises — irrel- 
evant thoughts — things that have nothing to do 
with the matter at hand, obstruct his view of what 
he is doing — clog his vision and distract his at- 
tention. 

But the moment he really Concentrates, the Tision 
clears — all outside things are eliminated — whether 
he is getting information — playing a game or 
studying — the matter at hand is all he sees, hears, 
knows, thinks of, or attends to. 

When you really acquire the ability to Concen- 
trate, you can grasp things more quickly — handle 



YOU 107 

yourself more efficiently and act far more intelli- 
gently than the ordinary mortal. For — the or- 
dinary man knows not the meaning of the word 
Concentration in its true sense. 

Concentration then is the ability to clear the vision 
— free it from all things not related to the matter 
at hand — and converge your mind powers — cen- 
tralize them on what you are doing. 

If it were a question of choice, and I was free 
to choose immediate and great proficiency in any 
one faculty — I should unhesitatingly say, "Give 
me the ability to Concentrate." 

For I know that with the ability to Concentrate, 
I could by virtue of this very thing gain all the 
rest. 

At this point, most people will ask themselves 
whether Concentration is an acquired ability or 
whether they have the necessary foundation to 
successfully develop it. 

The answer to both questions is "Yes," and it is 
a very simple matter to prove it. 



108 YOU 

Have you ever been in love? 

That *s not an aimless question, I 'm serious. Have 
you ever been in love? 

If you have, didn't you find your thoughts stray- 
ing to the object of your affections — didn't you 
find it easy to Concentrate-^to direct and center 
all your thoughts on Her? 

Do you like baseball? 

If you're a fan, isn't it mighty easy for you to 
concentrate on a game or even a written descrip- 
tion of one? 

Certainly it is. 

Have you ever been so interested in what you 
were reading that someone spoke to you several 
times without your even hearing them? 

Everyone has had that experience. You are no 
exception. 



YOU 109 

And these little experiences prove just one thing. 
You can Concentrate — you do Concentrate — upon 
the people you care for and the things you are 
interested in. 

And that simply proves that you have the ability 
to do it. 

But — that is uncontrolled Concentration — it comes 
only in response to the call of interest — it is 
without value except as a proof that you have 
the power within you. 

What you want to develop — what you must de- 
velop — is Controlled Concentration — the power to 
call Concentration into play just as you would 
take a burning-glass out of your pocket when you 
wanted to Concentrate the rays of the sun upon 
some particular object. 

For — controlled Concentration — is the only kind 
that is of value. It must be at your beck and 
call — no matter how dry the matter at hand may 
be, you must be master of your mind and be able 
to Concentrate when you so desire. 



110 YOU 

Now for the first step in the actual acquiring of 
Concentration. 

The foundation of Concentration is Attention. 

You must give Attention to the matter at hand 
before you can hope to Concentrate. 

Your Attention must be so close that outside 
things — noises — people talking — random thoughts 
will not distract you. 

Attention to the degree that all outside thoughts 
are entirely excluded — your mental room is filled 
only with that matter which is at hand. 

And when you have gained good control of At- 
tention, your battle is three-quarters over — the 
balance of the practice of Concentration is simple. 

For after your Attention is fixed, your brain be- 
gins to work — to find out what should be done — 
to supply the proper action — to make the neces- 
sary move — once the move is made, Concentra- 
tion relaxes and you will have done in minutes 



YOU 111 

what ordinarily would take hours and have done 
it more efficiently in spite of the shorter tim^ 
required. It is a question of developing Concen- 
tration as a habit — a basic quality necessary from 
the moment you arise until you retire at night. 

Start acquiring Concentration by practicing on 
the little things. 

When you retire at night, Concentrate on restful 
sleep — take the necessary steps — give your Atten- 
tion solely and absolutely to sleep — decide on 
restful sleep — dismiss from your mind all thoughts 
— repel all attempts of the brain to become ac- 
tive — as a thought tries to enter concentrate on 
throwing it out. The blood will recede from your 
head and you will sleep. By following this pro- 
gram, men who have had trouble all their lives 
in sleeping have found inside of a few weeks the 
power to almost instantly command rest simply 
through the practice of Concentration. 

Naturally, this is one of the minor uses — Concen- 
tration is a big gun for use on the big things, 
but your skill in handling it must be first de- 



112 YOU 

veloped in target practice — in creating a habit 
by using it on smaller objects. 

The affirmations which follow this text are really 
the spirit of the four steps of Concentration — the 
first affirmation: 

"I command myself to give Attention — I hear 
nothing — see nothing but the matter at hand." 

In this, the first step, you are simply forcing 
out irrelevant things, getting ready to concen- 
trate. 

The next affirmation: 

"What is to be done? What do I know about 
this? I command my Memory to furnish previ- 
ous experience and facts relating to this matter. ' ' 

Here you survey the requirements of the situa- 
tion — you invoke Memory to safeguard your judg- 
ment by giving you previous experience or his- 
tory as a basis for action — you use forethought 
and judgment. 

The third affirmation: 



YOU 113 

"I command my Brain to help. I converge my 
powers upon the matter before me." 

Here, of course, you plan action. 

And the next step — the next affirmation is : 

"I concentrate' < — 

This means that your decision crystallizes and 
you act. 

Now this sounds like a long way around, but it 
really is a mighty short cut, because, after a 
comparatively brief period of practice, the vari- 
ous steps of the affirmations (which are simply 
prompters or directors) become automatic — you 
give attention — see requirements — make deci- 
sions — concentrate and act in almost less time 
than it takes to tell it. 

Watch a business man Concentrate on a tele- 
gram. 

He opens the telegram. .Instantly he is all atten- 
tion — he is simply buried in the content of that 



114 YOU 

telegram — lie invokes his memory — or the files — 
he makes his decision and he acts — and all through 
the matter his mind has been fully occupied — 
almost buried in the matter at hand. 

A bit back, I spoke of developing Concentration 
through the little things of life. 

For instance — reading — if you're reading for 
amusement and recreation — it's all right to skip 
lightly through a volume. 

But — if you're reading for instruction or informa- 
tion — then — you must concentrate. 

Here's a simple test. 

Take a book preferably on a subject with which 
you are not familiar. 

Eead through the way you ordinarily do — for — 
if you're the average man, you skim in reading. 

Then read that same book again — see if you don't 
get a lot of things you missed on the first reading. 
Bead it a third time — behold — more new things. 



YOU 115 

All proof that you didn't Concentrate — for the 
man who does Concentrate on what he reads for 
information or instruction gets as much on first 
reading as the ordinary reader does in three or 
four perusals. Think that over. 

I know a man who learned French by reading an 
interlinear translation once. He had a good mem- 
ory — he concentrated and it took him six months 
to read the book once — but when he closed the 
last page, he picked up a French novel and 
read it: — Lamely it is true, but, nevertheless, 
with understanding. 

It is just as important in acquiring Concentra- 
tion that you be able to instantly stop it as start 
it. When the necessity for Concentration has 
passed, make a practice of stopping at once — make 
it go as well as come on call. By being able to 
instantly stop Concentration when its work is 
done, you free your mind and recreate from the 
extra mental exertion Concentration requires. 

Apart from a deficiency of the motor centers, 
which exists in very few people, the greatest bar- 



116 YOU 

rier to Concentration is an impulsive and emo- 
tional mind. 

But the Law calls for the repression of extreme 
emotions of any kind and in its study and practice, 
Concentration will become easily possible to many 
people who without the governing influence of 
the Law would find Concentration shattered by 
various emotions and impulses of the moment. 

In other words, if your best friend were caught 
in the frog of a railway track and a train were 
approaching, your Concentration on the best 
method of saving him would be attacked by Fear. 
But under the Law, such emotions are excluded 
and your brain is free to act. However, this is 
completely covered later, so we will not deal with 
it further in this particular text. 

One warning. Some people develop the power 
of Attention and stop there, fondly deluding 
themselves with the belief that they are Concen- 
trating. 

But from what they think is Concentration, no 



YOU 117 

action comes. As a matter of fact, when you 
give Attention and stop there, you are simply 
meditating, and Concentration is the capitaliza- 
tion and continuation of Attention to the point 
where decision induces action. 

Then, in a nutshell, the secret of Concentration 
lies in the understanding of it — and its acquiring 
through continual application of that understand- 
ing to the little things of daily life. 

The Steps to Concentration. (Read up.) 



4 I concentrate — I act. 



3 I command my Brain to help. I con- 
verge my powers (the matter at hand). 



2 What is to be done? What do I know 
about this! I command my Memory to 
furnish experience and facts relating to 
(the matter at hand) . 



1 I command myself to give Attention — I hear 
nothing — see nothing but (the matter at 
hand). 



TEXT TEN 

MEMORY DEVELOPMENT 

You must have a good memory. 

By "good memory " I do not mean the freak 
memory — the exhibition type, if yon please — that 
startles all beholders by instantly memorizing a 
hundred names or several columns of figures. 
The main use of that type of memory is for dis- 
play purposes. 

A "good memory" for practical uses under the 
Law is the ability to remember the things you 
want to remember — to stow them safely away in 
your mind and be able to recall them instantly 
when you want to do so. 

Many people have the idea that Memory is a gift. 

This is not a fact. 

118 



YOU 119 

The man or woman who already possesses a good 
Memory has either consciously or unconsciously 
cultivated the habit of remembering. 

And, back of this Memory, whether consciously 
cultivated or naturally acquired without effort, lie 
certain basic principles. 

The lack or presence of an understanding and 
application of these principles spells the differ- 
ence between a poor and a good Memory. 

There are just four Memory basics — they follow : 
(a) Association of Ideas; (b) Ingenuity; (c) In- 
tensity of Impression; (d) Eepetition. 

These four Memory basics or principles have been 
divided into two methods or systems of Memory 
cultivation. 

The first method of teaching Memory can best be 
described as the Artificial Memory System. 

It embraces and is founded largely upon the "As- 
sociation of Ideas' ' and "Ingenuity" principles. 



120 YOU 

This is the method or plan used by most of the 
Memory Schools. 

It is from my standpoint complicated, difficult 
to understand and laborious. The danger of 
its use lies in the fact that it gives excellent 
results in the beginning and then imposes a 
burden on the mind which makes Memory a 
top-heavy faculty, cluttered up with a world of 
useless, unimportant information. 

The second method which is based on " Intensity 
of Impression' ' and "Bepetition" is the Natural 
Memory System — it is the Method used by the 
majority of people who have naturally a good 
memory. It is the simple, easy way to remember 
and imposes no burden on the mind. In five min- 
utes you can grasp and apply the principles and 
begin to practice them. With a few weeks ' appli- 
cation, the principles begin to form themselves 
into a habit and, inside of sixty days, you have 
developed a Memory which will continue to im- 
prove as time goes on. 

As a matter of information, it is only fair that 



YOU 121 

the two systems be compared and understood, so 
that you may judge for yourself as to which plan 
is most adaptable to your needs. 

Broadly speaking, the Artificial Memory System 
operates as follows: Suppose you have an im- 
portant conference on the twelfth of February. 
It so happens that your wife's birthday comes 
on the same date. You " associate" the two ideas 
— combine the remembered date (your wife's 
birthday) with the to-be-remembered date — the 
important conference. This is a very crude illus- 
tration but it will serve to give the idea. 

The "Ingenuity" principle is mental trickery and 
is so seldom used or accepted, that an explanation 
is hardly worth the space it would occupy. 

The Artificial Memory System deals in catena- 
tions — memorization of word series and their 
translations — similarity of sounds — word connec- 
tions — etc., etc., etc. 

In other words, the weakness of the Artificial 
Memory System is that to successfully apply and 



122 YOU 

use it, you must burden your memory with many 
times the essentials — your load of " chaff' ' is 
many times that of the " grain' ' you really want 
to retain. 

This, of course, is a personal view based on ob- 
servation and my own experience, but it has oc- 
curred to me many times while examining various 
"Artificial" Memory Systems, that to acquire 
them, the student must develop Natural Memory 
Principles — so — why not go direct to the root of 
the thing and learn the Natural Memory System 
at first and not burden the mind with all this 
load of more or less irrelevant "system." 

The Natural Memory System is as simple as 
A, B, C. 

The two principles are: 

Intensity of Impression— 

— and — 

— Eepetition. 

In other words: When you want to remember; 



YOU 123 

— first — pay attention to what yon want to retain ; 
— second — repeat what you want to retain — not 
once, but many times. 

That is the whole system. 

Your Memory is a giant sensitive plate — prac- 
tically limitless in its capacity, receiving its 
pictures through the lens of your eyes and ears 
and senses. 

To " mentally photograph" anything, you must 
pay Attention — Concentrate. 

Then — to make that photographic impression deep 
and lasting, you must repeat — repeat — repeat. 

In the beginning, you will be forced to pay strict 
attention and repeat many times. 

But as the habit forms — as your Concentration 
develops, you will find that you almost instantly 
"photograph' ' what you want to remember and 
create a lasting image with only one or two repe- 
titions. 



124 YOU 

A very simple example of the working of the 
Natural Memory System is found in remember- 
ing names and faces of the people you meet, — 
something which many individuals, of otherwise 
excellent Memory, find difficult. 

Nine times out of ten, when you fail to " catch' ' 
the name of a person to whom you are being in- 
troduced, it is because you did not pay Attention 
at the time the name was spoken. 

The moment you are about to be introduced, bring 
"Intensity of Impression" into play — pay strict 
Attention — Concentrate on receiving the person's 
name via your ears and "photographing" his face 
through your eyes — get the two together. 

Don't try to remember the face by some distin- 
guishing feature — get your impression of it as 
an entire countenance. 

Concentrate on getting the name. 

Once you have it, repeat it several times to your- 
self — take several looks at the man's face while 



YOU 125 

you are repeating his name — repeat it aloud when 
addressing him — associate the two. 

And — you will have a mental photograph which 
will not fade. 

There is a perfect example of the Natural Mem- 
ory Method. It can he used for any purpose. 

The easiest exercises for the development of this 
power lie through a few minutes each day spent 
in memorizing something which is very easy to 
retain — jingles or texts for instance. 

Make the exercises very easy. Continue the prac- 
tice in your day's occupation by remembering 
— and retaining — those things which you ordi- 
narily make memoranda on. 

Each day add just a little to the things which 
you are memorizing. Keep well in mind at all 
times — first — that you must see or hear things 
clearly — second that you must repeat or review. 
And the reviewing is as important as the receiv- 
ing, because it is the repetition and recalling 



126 YOU 

which stamp the image on the mind and recall 
it at win 

As soon as you find your Memory improving un- 
der this plan, discard the jingles and text, con- 
fine yourself to the things that you should re- 
member in daily life and for practice, take up 
various works or studies that will prove of value 
to you in your occupation. 

If you want a final proof of the practicability of 
the Natural Method of Memory, remember that 
prior to the invention of printing, textbooks were 
committed to memory, and various authorities tell 
us that for three hundred and fifty years the en- 
tire text and glosses of Panini's Sanskrit Gram- 
mar, a work about the same size as the Bible, was 
handed down orally. The men who remembered 
the work are said to have cultivated their mem- 
ories on a system similar to the one herem 
recommended. 

Nearly all of us have known old people with re- 
markable memories who attributed their powers 
to continuous reading of the Bible from early 



YOU 127 

childhood. The Norse sagas, handed down by- 
word of mouth — hundreds of examples in every 
age and every country prove that the Natural or 
Direct System of Memory training is effectual 
and simple as nature herself. 

Pay Attention — Concentrate on receiving an In- 
tense Impression — 

Then repeat—review — and resolve to remember. 

That's all there is to a good memory, except the 
cultivation of the habit. 



TEXT ELEVEN 



SPEAKING EFFECTIVELY 



The major medium of your contact with other 
minds is through your speech. 

You may be called upon, through the nature of 
your vocation, to talk much or little. It matters 
not. "What you have to say must be said in a 
manner which conveys a clear message from your 
mind to that of your listener. 

By being able, through the medium of speech, to 
transfer to your listener without loss the com- 
plete creation of your brain — to make clear to 
other minds what is clear in your own mind — 
you gain a valuable channel of influence over 
those with whom you make contact. 

Oratory has no part in this work, consequently 

128 



YOU 129 

it will not be treated of. We are dealing here 
simply with effective, interesting speech. 

Our text covers your contact with others as in- 
dividuals. However, many men who can talk 
effectively to one other person lose their power 
when their audience is multiplied. 

This is due to one thing — to permitting the sev- 
eral minds with which you are dealing to disturb 
your Concentration — distract your thoughts. 

You will find it just as easy to talk effectively 
to a number of people as to one, if you will follow 
this simple rule. When you are talking to a num- 
ber of people, select the most receptive one in the 
group— concentrate on him — direct your conver- 
sation to him — let the rest of your auditors listen 
— just talk to the one person. 

So much for group talking, which has nothing 
whatever to do with oratory — does not even fringe 
on it. 

Now for everyday speech — the kind that brings 



130 YOU 

you into contact — that helps people form their 
impression of you — speech that, backed by your 
belief in and practice of the Law, brings you back 
from Life the things you ask for. 

Let us start at the beginning. 

What is Effective Speech? 

My definition would be about as follows : when 
a man's subject is well organized and his han- 
dling is interesting — when he makes his ideas clear 
and holds the attention of his listeners, then his 
speech is effective. 

That then is the end we are working to. 

Eight here, let us dismiss all thoughts of the 
"flowery" talker, the man who talks easily and 
redundantly without ever really arriving at a des- 
tination — let us view also, as a horrible example, 
the fellow who "orates" and punctuates his con- 
versation with as many tonal variations as an 
opera singer. Both of these types of speech are 
evils to be avoided. 



YOU 131 

What we want and nrast have is just a simple, 
homely, convincing, interesting manner of trans- 
ferring onr thoughts clearly from our own minds 
to those of others. 

Effective speaking reduced to its simplest terms 
is nothing more or less than the ability to hold 
listeners by the effect as well as the interest of 
what you have to say. 

The effect is the result of your Delivery. 

The mterest comes from the clarity and organi- 
zation of your thoughts. 

Two simple fundamentals govern effective speech. 

First — the Eetention of Well Organized Ideas 

During Speech — 

Second — the Technical Control of Voice During 

Speech — 

An example of the application of these rules is 

probably the best sort of explanation. 

You are a witness in an important case. 



132 YOU 

Very naturally, you review what you have to say 
— organize it, as it were, before you are called to 
the stand. 

Then, when you are testifying, you will find that 
you are able to adhere closely to the main thread 
of your story. This is "Ketention of Well Or- 
ganized Ideas During Speech.' ' 

And, while you are talking, you so gauge your 
speech that it is pleasant to listen to — sincere and 
convincing. That is "The Technical Control of 
Voice During Speech." 

Practically every man who has ever been a wit- 
ness in an important case can easily identify these 
steps. 

But — very few men carry this practice into 
everyday life. 

And there is where it counts most. 

You must develop the habit of quickly, almost in- 
stantly, marshaling in your mind the facts you 



YOU 133 

want to communicate before you open your mouth 
— laying out a program, as it were. 

What you have to say may take only sixty seconds 
to deliver — may only take five seconds to organize, 
but that preliminary organization is essential be- 
cause it gives you a center to work around. 

Then, when you are talking, you must adhere 
to this outline — and depend on your tone of voice 
— your emphasis — your inflections to hold the 
interest of your listeners in what you are 
saying. 

Men who consistently use this plan can in less 
than ten seconds make a mental outline of the 
points they want to bring out, which will take 
from fifteen to twenty minutes to cover in the 
spoken word. 

And the wonderful part of this method is the 
fact that once the habit of forming or organizing 
thoughts before delivering them is adopted, in- 
terruptions and comments do not in any way dis- 
turb or confuse. 



134 YOU 

The preliminary organization of thoughts is noth- 
ing more or less than the application of Fore- 
thought to speech. 

And by dint of practice and habit forming, it 
becomes second nature and stands you in good 
stead, no matter what emergency may arise. 

I knew a newspaper man who was a very won- 
derful writer. He could organize his facts, sit! 
down at a machine and pound out a fascinating, 
gripping article on almost any subject you could 
name. But — force him to deliver his message 
verbally and he would make a miserable failure. 

By chance, he was called upon as a side issue to 
prepare from a university professor's papers a 
little article relating principally to the "Reten- 
tion of Well Organized Ideas During Speech.' ' 
The article started him thinking — it held a mirror 
in which he viewed his own shortcoming, and he 
acted. Inside of six months he was speaking as 
well as he wrote — very ably. 

The major part of the acquirement of any skill 



YOU 135 

or faculty is the understanding of the rules gov- 
erning it, and the time you spend in weighing 
your own speech and method of speaking as it is 
at present, against the fundamentals herein out- 
lined, is time most profitably spent. 

Do you make a habit of thinking before you speak 
— analyzing and assembling what you are going 
to say? 

Do you while speaking adhere closely to what 
you planned to say and the way you planned to 
say it? 

Your answers to those questions tell a big part 
of the story. Act upon what they tell you to do. 

Now for the second half. 

Do you talk interestingly? 

In other words — entirely apart from the message 
you're delivering, are you "easy to listen to" — 
not by flow of oratory or verbal flowers, but by 
virtue of an easy, interesting manner of delivery? 



136 YOU 

Answer that question honestly — answer it by the 
effect of your conversation on others — do you find 
the majority of people glad to have you talk to 
them or do they just "submit"! 

Your verdict must be based on the judgment of 
other people as reflected in their faces when you 
are talking. 

If you are fortunate enough to have an interesting 
Delivery— count yourself lucky and concentrate 
on the "Organization of Ideas." 

If not — spend a little time on the manner of your 
speech. It pays. 

The second principle of effective speech is simply 
effective Delivery. 

You have heard two different people tell the story 
almost in the same words. 

In one man's mouth it bored you to extinction. 

But the other fellow told it so well that you thor- 



YOU 137 

oughly enjoyed it. One man had effective Deliv- 
ery — the other didn't. 

How are you going to cultivate effective De- 
livery? 

There is a very simple method of development 
that not only helps your Delivery, but develops 
organization and Retention of Ideas during speech 
as well. It follows. 

Go to your room where you can be alone — read 
a short story in a magazine — once. Practice Con- 
centration when you read it so that you really 
get the story. 

Then close the covers of the book. Allow your- 
self a few seconds to organize the idea of the 
story in your own mind. 

Then — right out loud — just as if you were trying 
to hold the interest of an imaginary listener — 
tell that story in your own way — tell it briefly — 
try to get proper emphasis and expression and 
sincerity into it — try to adhere closely to the 



138 YOU 

method or outline you formulated before you 
started to speak. 

That is an exercise which is four-square — covers 
the whole gamut of Effective Speech — the habit 
of outlining before talking— ^the habit of sticking 
to that outline while speaking and still making 
the speech interesting by virtue of the manner 
of its delivery. 

Follow this practice a while with short stories — 
then change to scientific and technical articles. 
Don't for a moment feel that you are wasting 
time or going through foolish maneuvers — on the 
contrary, you are making one of the best time 
investments possible. 

After you have pursued this plan for a week or 
so, start practicing on your friends and the people 
you meet. 

Make up your mind that you are going to describe 
to them something you have seen, some article 
you have read ; then, quickly organize your ideas 
and go ahead. 



YOU 139 

Watch them carefully to see if you hold their in- 
terest. If not, find out why and keep on trying 
till you do. Overlook no opportunity for devel- 
oping this method of speech and you will find your- 
self far, far ahead of the average man in your 
effectiveness. 

The sum and substance of effective Delivery is 
Sincerity — avoid monotones — speak sincerely and 
let the light of the Law shine through your words. 

The method outlined above seems almost child- 
ishly simple. So it is. But it will give the desired 
results. And that is what we are after. 



TEXT TWELVE 

JUDGMENT PLUS FORETHOUGHT 

In the strict sense of the practice of the Law, 
Judgment is a guard placed at your mind's doors 
to decide whether or not certain things should 
be admitted. But it takes other qualities, all 
around development, to enforce the findings of 
Judgment, and, as a matter of fact, that particular 
mission — guard duty — while vitally important is 
one of the smallest functions of Judgment in life. 
Every day — every hour — Judgment is brought to 
bear — to decide whether or not you will act — 
how you should act — what you should do, etc., etc., 
etc. 

Now Judgment is practically Foresight — 

And Foresight is hindsight reversed. 

This is not a bad way of labeling Judgment in 

140 



YOU 141 

your own mind. After a thing has happened, you 
can nearly always go back and review the situa- 
tion and from your weighing of the facts, easily 
pick out what would have been the proper course 
to pursue. That's what is called "hindsight." 
We are all familiar with its workings. 

But the thing to do is to be able to find the right 
way out at the critical moment — to so plan our 
moves that we practically know the outcome — 
that is " Foresight' ' or "Judgment" if you please, 
since it extends to the what-not-to-do 's as well as 
the what-should-be-done's. 

The exercise of Judgment is simply a matter of 
deduction — or figuring what may happen from 
what has happened — taking the indications at 
hand, reading them correctly, making the fore- 
cast and acting accordingly. 

That's simple enough. 

But — for every man who actually does this thing 
— exercises Judgment, there are literally thou- 
sands who do not. 



142 YOU 

The exercise of Judgment necessitates calm, 

careful thought. And it's mighty surprising 

how few people in this day and age really 
think. 

There's a big rock on which most men stumble 
when they try to exercise Judgment. A man may 
be a wonderful analyst when it to comes to " hind- 
sight' ' but with the same stage setting he abso- 
lutely fails at the critical moment when " fore- 
sight" is required. 

Why? 

Simply because the moment he faces a current 
problem which involves his own welfare or prog- 
ress, he permits himself to be biased and wavers 
toward the solution his own desires call for — or 
— he sees sure disaster ahead — invariably — fear 
of what may happen obscures his vision and ut- 
terly befogs his judgment. 

Now to the man living under the Law this will 
never happen — he will not let either Fear or 
undue desire bias his Judgment. 



YOU 143 

He will realize and act upon his realization that 
when considering his own problems, he must as 
nearly as possible pass Judgment as if it were 
a matter pertaining to another person. 

The nearer you can come to weighing your own 
problems in the same manner as you would if 
they were submitted to you for Judgment by an- 
other person, the closer your Judgment will come 
to the proper solution. 

Concentrate upon the cold, bare facts and care- 
fully avoid the injection of the personal. 

Upon the great, the unlimited photographic plate 
of your Memory, there is an indelible impression 
of everything you have ever heard, seen, read or 
come in contact with. 

This is your "Experience" and it is the 
only sound basis for the proper exercise of 
Judgment. 

The moment anything is recorded in your Mem- 
ory, it is filed away as a possible fact upon which 



144 YOU 

some day you will base a Judgment — a part of 

your Experience. 

The more Experience a man has had, naturally 
the better his Judgment will be, but a man of 
limited experience who really uses it and exer- 
cises his Judgment is far more able than the 
man of wide experience who does not utilize the 
facts he has gleaned from Life. 

Your Experience will involve not only first-hand 
facts — personal experiences — but will mind-index 
where to go for information — whom to see and 
talk with to find out certain things necessary to 
make an intelligent decision. 

In judging a man who applies to you for a posi- 
tion, you draw upon your Memory for Experience 
with others of his type — you bring to mind cer- 
tain tests of ability that you have heard of — you 
draw all the facts relating to this type of man, 
the work you want him for and handling of ap- 
plicants for employment in general. Upon these 
things you Concentrate and formulate a real basis 
for Judgment — then act on your findings. 



YOU 145 

It so happens that two widely different types of 
men naturally — almost without conscious thought 
— exercise excellent Judgment. 

One type is the man whose Judgment is so quick 
that it is almost instinctive. 

The other type is the man who sizes up the human 
element of the situation — reviews the facts at hand 
— slowly brings his Experience to bear and finally 
by deliberate reasoning arrives at a decision. 

There is no choice between the methods. If you 
can bring Judgment to the point where it is quick 
as a flash — well and good — if with you it is a slow 
process — still, well and good. In other words, 
no matter what the method, if you really exercise 
Judgment, that is all that is necessary. 

Now if you knew what was going to happen to- 
morrow, life wouldn't be worth the living — all 
the spice and ginger of the unknown would be 
gone. 

Nevertheless — while it is an impossibility to fore- 



146 YOU 

tell what is going to come to pass tomorrow, there 
is a simple, easy method of doing an even more 
difficult thing — of what almost amounts to mold- 
ing tomorrow to suit yourself. 

That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? 

But it isn't — on the contrary, it's the most logical 
thing in the world and I can prove it. 

Is it or is it not a fact that you can trace most 
of the things that happen today to some word, 
deed or act of your own in the past! 

Stop and think. The answer to that question is 
a mighty important one. 

Understand, I grant that there are many unex- 
pected things happening every day — but — and I 
hark back to my original question again — can't 
you trace the majority of today's happenings back 
to a starting-point in the past that you alone are 
responsible for? 

Certainly you can. So can every man. Practically 



YOU 147i 

all of our tomorrows are molded by our own 
yesterdays. 

There's a world of thought in that last paragraph 
and the moment you grasp its truth, you have a 
powerful leverage on life. 

Never mind what has happened. That's all Ex- 
perience — valuable experience if you 11 only real- 
ize that today you have the making of tomorrow 
in your own hands. 

Judgment is something we are called upon to ex- 
ercise only occasionally — when the need for it 
arises — and Judgment, the ability to deduce from 
certain things that have happened, certain things 
that may come as the result of your actions, makes 
you wiser than other men. 

But — Forethought — usable every moment, every 
day, is the little thing that makes you take Today 
the proper steps to make your " Tomorrows' 9 
what you wish them to be. 

Just stop a moment or two and contemplate. 



148 YOU 

Consider the fact that if you will stop and think 
before you act — and when Forethought shows the 
necessity of Judgment, bring it into play — you can 
mold the days that lie behind the dark curtain 
of the future. 

I wonder if this is clear. I do not want to pass 
it by without making sure that the thought is not 
lost. 

You can so govern your actions today that they 
will make the things you want come to pass. 

To do this, it is only necessary to never act 
thoughtlessly — to put Forethought — even that of 
a second — before your every action — and isn't it 
worth while, if only for the sake of the power it 
gives over your Future? 

This then is Judgment under the Law — Fore- 
thought continuous, plus Judgment whenever re- 
quired. 



TEXT THIKTEEN 

AUTO-SUGGESTION AND MENTAL DISCIPLINE 

I rode to Washington with a man who was the 
most charming traveling companion imaginable. 
Not only from a standpoint of sheer good-fellow- 
ship, but the chap had a remarkable brain — his 
memory was little short of marvelous — his intel- 
lect keen, and, without being loud or self-assertive, 
he was a strikingly convincing talker. 

It happened that we met again — in the office of 
a high government official. And the man who 
had impressed me so strongly, stuttered and 
stammered — wandered in his speech — forgot what 
he was saying, and, all in all, made a showing 
that would have shamed the average high-school 
boy. His effort to gain a position that, in my 
judgment, he fully qualified for was an absolute 
failure. 

149 



150 YOU 

Let's look for the cause. 

Talking to me, a stranger, lie was absolutely at 
ease — his brain was working. But in the presence 
of the man who had the power to give him what 
he sought, the combination of Washington high 
officialdom and an imminent crisis embarrassed 
him, paralyzed his faculties and put him at a 
terrible disadvantage. 

In other words, a " state of mind" made his abil- 
ity worthless. 

Now that is something that we are all up against. 
No matter how much we know — no matter how 
great our knowledge and ability— unless it is 
available for instant use at all times we might as 
well almost not have it at all. If at critical mo- 
ments fear, embarrassment or some other il state 
of mind" is going to lock the brain doors and 
say " nothing shall come out," then we can not 
be certain of anything at any time. 

We all know the man who can solve another man's 
problem in a manner little short of miraculous, 



YOU 151 

but who, on his own questions, is almost helpless. 
A personal fear or pessimism paralyzes his abil- 
ity when it comes to dealing with his own prob- 
lems. 

Knowledge is purely brain development, but to 
be of value a man must be able to use that knowl- 
edge at any and all times and under any and all 
conditions. The greater the emergency the more 
surely the brain must be able to act. This is 
born of one thing and one thing only — mind con- 
trol. 

Mind control is the key to things which are even 
more important than the brain qualities. The 
man with good mental control and mediocre brain 
development will go farther and more surely than 
the man of exceptional brain whose mind hampers 
instead of helps. 

Now the development of mind control parallels 
the training in Military Service. What the re> 
cruit should do is taught him — then, through con- 
stant repetition and discipline, the qualities of 
the soldier become second nature — habit. And it 



152 YOU 

is born of two things — first, understanding what 
should be done; second, constant discipline 
to turn this understanding into habit. 

Under the Law, the proper mind development — 
constructive habits which not only enable you to 
capitalize every last cell of brain power under 
all conditions, no matter how trying — does more, 
it has a lasting and wonderful effect upon bodily 
as well as mental strength. 

The different parts of mental control — the prob- 
lems attending its development and retention, as 
well as its effects and use, are dealt with hereafter. 
The question at hand is the medium through 
which these things can be acquired — the method 
of mental discipline to be employed. 

If a superior officer orders a soldier to do a thing, 
he is obeyed, the order is executed. 

The officer's order is from his mind to the mind 
of the other man. 

That is a defined and absolute situation. 



YOU 153 

However, leaving the service where orders must 
be obeyed and looking around us, we find 
thousands of people practicing in their daily- 
lives, "suggestion." Among salesmen — success- 
ful salesmen especially — " suggestion' ' is widely 
used. 

Here is an example, purposely crude, to illus- 
trate the point. 

A poor salesman says, "You don't want anything 
today, do you!" 

While he may think he is soliciting an order, in 
reality he is suggesting to his auditor that he or 
she needs nothing. 

On the other hand, a good salesman says : 

"You want a pair of these shoes before they're 
all gone and we can't get any more, don't you!" 

That "suggestion" is constructive — action-im- 
pelling; he is suggesting to his auditor that he 
or she does want a pair of shoes — that prompt 



154 YOU 

action is imperative because of an imminent 
shortage. 

" Suggestion' ' is simply the action of mind upon 
mind. 

It is a curious law of nature that not only can 
your mind influence the mind of another man, 
but it can influence and mold itself. This action 
of your own mind upon your own mind is auto- 
or self-suggestion, whichever you may choose to 
call it, and it is the most powerful single influence 
which can be developed within any man. 

It is important that you clearly see and under- 
stand this before proceeding, simply because, un- 
less you do, many things which, viewed through 
the glasses of understanding, will be clear and 
easy of accomplishment will be almost foolish, if 
you do not grasp the principle behind them. 

It is generally acknowledged by the leading sci- 
entists that the mind of man is dual — you and I 
and everybody else have two minds — the con- 
scious and sub-conscious minds. 



YOU 155 

You probably already understand this matter, but 
for the sake of completeness I will cover it briefly. 

The conscious mind is the working mind, closely 
akin to the brain. The subconscious mind is the 
spiritual, the intuitive, unreasoning part, if I may 
use those terms. 

Here follows a simple self-suggestion experiment 
which you and every other person has made at 
one time or another. 

You want to get up at a certain hour in the morn- 
ing and you drop off to sleep repeating to your- 
self the determination to arise at this hour. Your 
conscious mind sleeps — your reason is completely 
at rest, but your sub-conscious mind is on guard, 
and promptly at the appointed hour you awake 
and rise. 

Self-suggestion works on the sub-conscious mind, 
and that is the part of your mind where fear 
and worry and embarrassment and pessimism and 
the other destructive influences find their birth 
and being and growth. 



156 YOU 

All things come from beginnings — things mental 
as well as physical. 

So, when you employ self-suggestion, all you are 
doing is controlling your mental beginnings — 
forcing and directing them into good and con- 
structive channels so that they eventually become 
habits and require no conscious exercise of the 
art. 

It may be well to interpose here a simple defini- 
tion of self-suggestion, so that we may have a 
common ground to work from. 

Under the Law, self-suggestion is the issuing and 
reiteration of an idea by the conscious mind so 
that it may take root and grow and be adopted 
by the sub-conscious mind. 

When you repeat the hour at which you want to 
arise, as you drop off to sleep, you do so with 
your conscious mind. But the thought, the idea, 
has been transplanted by this process of reitera- 
tion to the sub-conscious mind, where it becomes 
an action at the appointed hour. 



YOU 157 

So your conscious mind is simply controlling your 
sub-conscious mind by this practice of sug- 
gestion. 

In the beginning of this work, we talked of dark 
and lightness. Right here is where we must re- 
turn to that point and get a clear under- 
standing of it under the Law, for auto-sug- 
gestion is the means by which we must attain 
our ends. 

We will recognize as Light all that is happiness — 
contentment — wholesome pleasure and progress. 
Darkness is everything that is destructive — pes- 
simism — fear — worry — envy — hatred — all of the 
things that work against the end we seek. 

We want Light — not for a few hours a day or a 
few days a week, but never-ending, never-ceasing 
Light — the kind of Light which makes our waking 
hours contented, happy and successful and our 
sleeping hours perfect rest. 

To do this we must rid our mental dwellings of 
darkness. 



158 YOU 

In your home you have windows and electric 

lights. 

If it is dark in the daytime, you don't open the 
door and try to let out the Dark. 

No, you open the windows and let in the Light — 
the Dark goes when the Light comes. At night a 
touch of the switch, and again the Dark goes 
when the Light comes. 

And so it is in your mental dwelling, you are not 
going to rid yourself of the Darkness by concen- 
trating on dismissing the Darkness. 

You are going to fill and surround your house 
with Light by seeking and admitting Light — then 
there is no room for Darkness. 

Self- Suggestion, plus an understanding of what 
Light is, will keep you happy and progressing 
three hundred and sixty-five days a year every 
year. 

A constant reiteration — a constant feeding the 



YOU 159 

sub-conscious mind with thoughts of Light — keep 
it light. 

You see, "states of mind" find their being in 
your sub-conscious mind. The gateway — the 
doors and windows through which they enter are 
the conscious mind. 

If you are not on guard constantly, little, disturb- 
ing thoughts creep in, and in the sub-conscious 
mind become multiplied and expand until Dark- 
ness fills the place where Light should be. 

Self-Suggestion continually furnishes key 
thoughts of Light — maintains a mental discipline 
over the doors and windows, and self-suggestion, 
followed under the Law, finally develops within 
your subconscious mind a well-organized, con- 
structive state of mind that carries you any and 
everywhere with ease and dispatch. 

In the beginning self-suggestion shows immedi- 
ate effect. But lapses come, and no man can re- 
sist these lapses until the habits are fully formed. 
You must not expect too much at first. However, 



160 YOU 

you will get so much more than you are getting 
now that you will be immediately repaid for the 
effort. And the eventual results will be well 
worth the time invested. 

You must enter upon the practice of self-sugges- 
tion guided by one basic principle. 

Fear and doubt are Darkness lurking in every 
mind which enters upon the beginnings of the 
Law. 

They must be dispelled and the mental room 
cleared for the light. 

Your first foundation-laying in the practice of 
mental self-suggestion follows: Eead it; under- 
stand it, memorize it and then begin to reiterate it. 

"I believe that I will believe what it is 
best for me to believe. I believe that 
I am master of my mind, and I bid it 
receive the thoughts which make me mas- 
ter of my destiny.' ' 



TEXT FOURTEEN 

THE PREVAILING MENTAL ATTITUDE 

A commercial enterprise fails — goes on the rocks. 
Do yon criticize the employees — the rank and file 
of the men engaged in that business? 

No ! The man who headed the industry alone is 
responsible. He is the man you blame for failure 
or praise for success. 

An army meets defeat. 

Is it the soldiers' faults 

Again — no ! Your army wins its laurels or tastes 
the bitter wine of failure as a result of one thing 
and one thing alone — its leadership. 

You may say to me, " Just a* moment — I have 

161 



162 YOU 

heard of armies losing that were headed by able 
generals — the d ault lay with the staff — the under 
officers.' ' 

But that is wrong. The general — the man at the 
head — picks his own officers; if his judgment of 
men was wrong, again the responsibility reverts 
back to him. 

And so it goes — Life — Success hinges on leader- 
ship — proper direction. 

This fundamental, universal in its application to 
bodies and groups of men, applies to individuals 
as well. 

And many men who recognize it as group law 
fail to see and understand its application in their 
own individual being. 

You — within yourself — are divided into two 
groups of forces. 

First — the universally recognized forces — the act- 
ing forces — the powers of* the brain. 



YOU 163 

In the section preceding we have dealt with 
brain forces — Concentration — Judgment — Mem- 
ory — Effective Speech — these are the servants of 
the second group — the governing force without 
which they are non-effective. 

The controlling force — the commanding force of 
your being — is your Mind. 

Mind — is king — Brain — is subject. 

That is the psychic division. 

Many men have wonderfully developed brains- 
good memories — are effective talkers — good logi- 
cians, etc. — yet they fail. 

Why? 

Simply because their self-government is wrong 
— their Mind — that fine-spun fabric close akin to 
the soul — is either not a good governor or is 
passive. 

Mind finds its expression in mental attitude. 



164 YOU 

Your brain has nothing to do with your happi- 
ness. A child, whose brain power is em- 
bryonic, finds happiness where older and more 
mature mentalities discover only sorrow and 
misery. 

Mind in some men is passive — latent — undevel- 
oped — a force neither for good nor evil. 

In others — mind is changeable and flighty — 
like a craft without a helmsman — its sails flut- 
tering back and forth to every wind that 
blows. 

But in the man or woman who is working under 
the great Law — Mind is a controlling force that 
steers your being on a true, straight course to 
happiness, content and the things that mean suc- 
cess under the Law. 

Mind controls You. 

By proper coursing you can easily direct your 
Mind along the channels that spell happiness and 
success. 



YOU 165 

The process of development is simply to ascer- 
tain the Mental divisions that represent Success 
under the Law, then by proper training form 
mental habits that are constructive. 

The well-balanced Mind finds its expression 
through one thing — the Prevailing Mental Atti- 
tude. 

This is what you must cultivate and develop — a 
Prevailing Mental Attitude that is constructive 
under the Law. 

And it is very simple. 

Eight here I am going to diverge. 

The question is almost on the lips of many read- 
ers at this point. 

So far, I have touched the subject of Will Power 
only once, and then very briefly. 

So much has been said and written upon the 
subject of human Will Power that the majority 



C 



166 YOU 

of thinkers, without fixed belief, regard it as an 
essential to progress. 

My observations in the work I have been doing 
for years past have led me to a belief in this 
connection that is far different from that which 
I entertained in the beginning. 

Eliminating Will Power as a commercial factor 
— dealing with it only as it pertains to this work 
and the Law — it is entirely unnecessary for you 
to exercise your Will beyond the mere act of 
accepting, understanding and practicing the 
Law. 

There is a mighty world of power in those 
three words — accepting — understanding — practic- 
ing. 

The Law in its entirety is a scheme of living. 
No emergency can arise — no unforeseen con- 
tingency come to pass that can not be met suc- 
cessfully by the man or woman who is liv- 
ing in accordance with and practicing the 
Law. 



YOU 167 

Very well. Then when you intelligently practice 
the Law you are acting under the Will of the 
unseen — the divine Will. 

The divine Mind decrees that where a mountain 
stands a valley shall be — time passes — genera- 
tions of mankind come and go — and lo, behold 
where the height was a hollow is. 

And when you live under the Law a greater than 
human Will places its inexhaustible resources at 
your disposal. 

Under the Law you accept — you believe — you 
study and understand— you practice — beyond that 
nothing is needed. 

Why waste time building human Will when divine 
direction is at your disposal? 

And nowhere does divine Will make its manifesta- 
tion in humanity more strongly than through the 
Mind. 

One man's mentality, through circumstances and 



168 YOTT 

conditions, puts him in a position where* he believes 
the world is against him. 

He is doomed to failure in his search for happi- 
ness because his mental attitude is such that he 
does not recognize his goal when he sees it. 

The world calls this man pessimist — " unfortu- 
nate' \ is a clearer description. 

And his affliction is due not to his brain — but his 
mind — his Prevailing Mental Attitude. 

At the other extreme, we have what is usually 
called the Optimistic Mentality — the man who sees 
only good in everything — who laughs at misfor- 
tune — sorrow — trouble — grief — the world is a 
joke to him. 

Certainly he is happier than the Pessimist — he 
sees everything in the lighter vein — through rose- 
colored glasses. But — this is not the ideal state 
of mind, because habitual Optimism as a rule is 
not the fruit of a cultivated mind. It is a hap- 
penstance. 



YOU 169 

Most of us are neither confirmed Pessimists nor 
Optimists — we are alternates — according to the 
circumstances and conditions of the moment. 

At one period, when the world seems bright and 
we feel fit as kings, everything looks rosy and 
for the time being we are Optimists plus. 

But then something happens — we think business 
is going wrong — we believe our bodies are trou- 
bling us — then — down into the depths we sink and 
Optimism gives way to Pessimism of the worst 
kind. 

They say you must come up through the valley 
to reach the heights. This may be a good excuse 
for the varying minds of various men, but is a 
very poor rule to live by. 

"We can't help but revert back to our premise 
of your Mind as the leader of your forces — the 
governor of your present and your future. 

If the man at the head of a business saw only dis- 
aster one day, and only success ahead another, 



170 YOU 

might lie not foolishly venture during his optimis- 
tic periods and disastrously hesitate while pessi- 
mism prevailed?' 

Certainly. And that same thing applies to you. 

Your Mental Attitude can't vary with the weather 
and your stomach if you expect to get out of 
life all the good living it holds as you pass 
along. 

Your Prevailing Mental Attitude — the ideal for 
a controlling and governing mind — must be even 
and well calculated — a habit of thought so de- 
veloped as to become part of yourself — a method 
of thinking that will get for you every ounce of 
happiness and pleasure and success that the days 
offer as they pass you by. 

And it must be the same at night as in the day 
— in darkness and light — fair weather and foul — 
your Prevailing Mental Attitude, be it the right 
one, will aid you in conquering all obstacles and 
in making the progress your ability entitles 
you to. 



YOU 171 

Now what, under the Law, is the proper — the con- 
structive Prevailing Mental Attitude? 

That is what we want, so let us analyze first 
from the standpoint of what is necessary 
and then from the point of how to attain 
our ends. 

You want to get from every day all of the finan- 
cial and business progress it holds. Then — one 
of the phases of your Prevailing Mental Attitude 
must be that which enables you to work to best 
advantage wherever you are and whatever you 
are doing. 

Is that fair to assume as the first requisite of a 
Prevailing Mental Attitude that makes for Suc- 
cess? 

Then — you must not be browbeaten or broken 
down by fear of the future — you must believe that 
opportunity lies everywhere — opportunity for 
happiness — opportunity for contentment — oppor- 
tunity for mental gain — opportunity for financial 
advancement. 



■s 



172 YOU 

And that is your second requisite — Optimism- 
Optimism under the Law with Judgment and your 
other Brain Forces working to pick the right 
channels from the many openings your Optimism 
finds. 

Then — you must believe in yourself and your abil- 
ity — you must hold You as big as the biggest men 
you meet — you must hold You equal to the oppor- 
tunities Optimism finds. 

And this quality — the third phase of the Prevail- 
ing Mental Attitude — makes you rise above fail- 
ure and discontent and take advantage of the 
paths of progress that are open to you every- 
where. It is called Egoism. 

We usually but wrongly associate Egoism with 
a flashily attired, highly manicured individual 
who speaks in loud voice of his achievements and 
worldly success. 

But the greatest Egoist I know is a small, quiet- 
mannered man who seldom speaks unless spoken 
to, and then is sparing of words. He is the great- 



YOU 173 

est Egoist I know because lie believes down into 
the uttermost depths of his soul that no man — 
no thing — no occasion can arise that he is not 
the master of. And his Egoism has proven out 
in the fire of life. He is an Egoist by actions, not 
words, and his actions manifest themselves in 
results. 

There, then, you have the three phases of the 
successful Prevailing Mental Attitude under the 
Law — intelligent work or Selfism — Optimism and 
Egoism. 

What are the rest? There are no more. These 
three cover the whole field of human necessity 
from the material and the everyday ideal stand- 
point. 

Let your Mind be filled with Selfism — Optimism 
and Egoism under the Law and there is no room 
for evil — no weather changes of up in the heights 
or down to the depths — your Mind is an even, 
gentle ruler tempering its government with kind- 
ness and wisdom, progressing ever onward, yet 
presenting a front of stone to the attacks of the 



174 YOU 

petty annoyances and disappointments that ham- 
per the progress and grieve the path of those 
who struggle onward blindly. 

The three phases of the Prevailing Mental Atti- 
tude under the Law are too vital to pass quickly 
by. A section has been devoted to each one, and 
they have been briefly touched on here only in 
their relation to the all-important result which 
their practice achieves. 

When the Prevailing Mental Attitude has been 
well developed and is a real, living force within 
you, it brings something, unasked and unsought, 
that millions strive for. 

In a Eed Cross hut in France sat a brigadier- 
general and a little man in civilian clothes, insig- 
nificant-looking and with thick-lensed glasses veil- 
ing pale-blue eyes. 

Two marines came in on business, delivered their 
messages and retired. 

As they left the hut, one said to the other: 



YOU 175 

"Who was the little bird with the glasses, Bill!" 

"Don't know. Just wondering myself. Did you 
see the general in there ?" 

"Yes, sure. That little fellow with the glasses; 
now, I wonder " 

Just seven words devoted to the general and the 
rest of the conversation hinging around the iden- 
tity of an unknown civilian! 

Why? 

Just one reason — only one possible reason. 

The little man with the thick-rimmed glasses had 
that wonderful, intangible something that, for 
lack of a better name, we term Personality. 

What is Personality? 

You can't touch it — smell it — taste it or feel it 
with your fingers — yet you can feel it with your 
being when you make contact with it. 



176 YOU 

Personality is that thing within you which, with- 
out even the spoken word, others sense when 
they meet you or see you — it is attraction, per- 
sonal magnetism and its source lies in your 
mind. 

Personality is born of a strong mind — a good 
mind— sending out its vibrated messages as surely 
as the wireless, making all you meet take interest 
— want to know you better. 

It is that unseen but universally felt attraction 
which, from the beginning of things, strong, well- 
controlled minds have exercised upon all hu- 
manity. 

And when you are developing within yourself a 
Prevailing Mental Attitude which is in harmony 
with the Law you are developing the force of 
Personality, just as surely as you are laying the 
foundations of happiness and progress. 

When your Mind is developed in harmony with 
the Law you, without effort, give all the people 
with whom you make contact, vibrations of rest- 



YOU 177 

fulness, yet of strong forces under perfect con- 
trol, of never-failing strength and content. 

Thus, without conscious effort, working under the 
Law, you automatically give forth, through the 
Personality you have acquired, more than you 
receive that you may receive back those things 
which you seek. 

"My mind is governor of my brain and 
body. It is so full of good that there is 
no reason for evil. It is a good governor 
because it is strong and wise." 



TEXT FIFTEEN 

SELFISM 

We were placed here on earth with a balance in 
bank to our credit — a balance upon which we daily 
draw and dispose of as we see fit. 

Eich man — poor man — beggar man and all the 
rest of us — this one thing — the most precious 
thing in the world, is a possession common to all. 

For you have all the Time there is. 

What is Time? 

It is the universal medium of exchange. Your 
Time will bring you back from Life anything you 
choose to trade it for. 

You purchase whatever you get from the world 

178 



YOU 179 

with Time. The man who fully realizes what 
Time is draws a check on his balance in the Bank 
of Life in return for what he wants just as con- 
sciously as you place coins on the counter of a 
store for merchandise. 

If you want to estimate the value of Time, look 
about you. The investment — the exchange of 
Time for money built the great fortunes of the 
decade — the exchange of Time for knowledge 
made our scientists — the investment of Time 
made our music masters, and look a little harder, 
for it is worth looking for — the proper disposition 
of Time has brought back to certain men happi- 
ness unstinted. 

And you — yes, you — are just as rich in Time as 
the wealthiest man in the world. 

In Time you have the same measure of space 
to be happy in as the most contented man in the 
world. 

Isn't Time the greatest gift the Creator gave to 
man? 



180 YOU 

It is so great — so all-powerful — that there is only 
one thing in the universe that even Time itself 
can not purchase — and that one thing is — more 
Time. 

If any power could add Time to man's allotted 
span, the great minds — the billionaires of the 
world — would be struggling on the doorsteps of 
the youth of the world, bidding fabulous fortunes 
and all-powerful secrets for bare minutes of the 
world's most precious commodity. 

Once gone, Time never returns. Your yester- 
day's Time leaves behind only what it brought 
you — today and tomorrow hold the future in their 
hands for your disposition. 

Time must either be invested or wasted — there 
can be no halfway measures. 

All time spent in a manner that brings either evil 
or no results is wasted. Yet, however spent, all 
Time that brings a return of happiness — yes, even 
though it leaves but a pleasant memory — is in- 
vested and brings a real profit. 



YOU 181 

The one part of every man and woman's Time 
that universally seems to hold the unpleasant 
part of their expenditure lies in their daily work. 

Unquestionably, the majority of mankind are dis- 
satisfied with their daily task — with that part 
of their Time which brings back the wherewithal 
to live. 

And it is this very fact that makes it possible 
for the student of the Law to progress through 
his daily work far beyond the undirected, aimless 
multitude. 

Selfism is nothing more or less than work — work 
under the Law. 

Under the Law work must be intelligent — con- 
genial — efficient, planned work — work that is not 
a burden, but a pleasure. And since your work 
represents the capitalization of your Self — the 
term Selfism is self-explanatory. 

Now you pay in work for the money to live. You 
pay in work for your financial advancement. 



182 YOU 

And work is an expenditure of your capital — 
your Time. 

Just as many people pay too much in cash for 
the things they purchase, just so do the majority 
of people pay too much in work or in Time for 
the cash they derive from that work. 

The practice of Selfism insures the utmost pos- 
sible returns from the hours you spend at your 
daily tasks. 

A moment ago I spoke of people paying too much 
in Work for the return they receive. 

Look here. A man spends, we will say, eight 
hours a day in an office. He does his task just 
well enough to hold his position — he knows and 
you know that he is spreading two hours of honest 
work over an eight-hour day. He despises his 
employer — he envies his superior — he detests his 
task — yet out of it he makes a living. 

Now, under the Law that man is paying too much 
for what he gets. Mark this well. First of all— * 



YOU 183 

his task is odious. His meager return for the 
pay lie receives discounts his chance for ad- 
vancement and his envy and discontent work 
physical and mental harm, and impair his effi- 
ciency. 

The man who is in that position is giving up at 
least eight hours a day to unpleasantness and 
unhappiness, and that is far too great a price 
to pay for a living while the woods and waters 
are free and a gun and a rod will keep man fed 
and the green expanses are calling. 

Selfism does not contemplate drudgery. It does 
contemplate the required number of hours of hon- 
est work, irrespective of the pay — it requires well- 
ordered, efficient handling of the tasks assigned 
— it requires that spirit, that state of mind that 
makes you interested and happy in what you are 
doing. 

In other words, Selfism interprets the Law in 
your daily* work — your exchange of Time for a 
living' and the chance to progress. 



184 YOU 

It puts you in a position to deliver and the spirit 

to give the man you work for more than you 

receive. 

Give more than you receive and you will receive 
more than you give. 

Before a man can become the president of a 
concern, he must prove in a lower position that 
he is able. He must give the corporation the 
work and the ability of a president before he 
receives the salary of the president and the actual 
position. 

Give more than you receive to receive more than 
you give. 

Look at a factory department. Are they going 
to make a foreman out of a man just because 
they think he might make a good foreman? No, 
he has got to be the foreman — almost do the fore- 
man's work and do it well — he has to give more 
than he receives before he receives more than he 
is getting. 



YOU 185 

And it is so on all the upward steps. You must 
prove your worth before you receive l the award, 
and that is in perfect accord with the Law. 

I don't want this to be interpreted, by any chance, 
as a sermon on the glories of hard labor or grind- 
ing work. Not a bit of it. But since the majority 
of us spend about a quarter of our Time in the 
harness of business, Selfism is a mighty important 
part of the Prevailing Mental attitude and a vital 
segment of the Law. 

Let's review a little. 

Selfism dictates you shall be happy — interested 
in your work — whatever you may be doing. Let 's 
dwell a moment on that point. 

You may say, provided it is a fact, "But mj work 
is uncongenial — my employer is a slave-driver — • 
how can a man be happy under such circum- 
stances ? 

If you absolutely and positively and honestly feel 
and know and are convinced that you can not be 



186 YOU 

happy and contented where you are, naturally you 
will have to seek a place that you believe will be 
congenial. 

But look you. Ninety per cent of the discontent 
that men en'tertain toward the work they are 
doing is a throwback from the almost forgotten 
days when work was done by slaves and " gen- 
tlefolks' ' lolled back at their ease and watched 
the manacled ones sweat and labor. 

Have you ever stopped to think of that? Have 
you ever asked yourself and really tried to get 
at the truth of it, whether or not the particular 
work you are now doing is really distasteful to 
you or whether all work of any kind is just a 
little repugnant? 

That's a mighty important question and it re- 
quires a truthful, straight answer, whether you're 
running a typewriter or have a hundred or 
more men under your command. 

Many people mistake a fundamental dislike for 
continued application to another man's business 



YOU 187 

for an antipathy for the particular position they 
hold. 

They're like a . neurasthenic who believes that 
Italy will cure him, and shortly after his arrival 
decides that Switzerland will be better, and hardly 
lands in Geneva when he begins to think of South 
Africa. The truth of the matter is that the " un- 
healthy climate' ' is in his mind and if he'd let 
the sunshine in, happiness and health would be 
there, no matter where his body might be. 

A very good friend of mine, who, through hard 
and intelligent work, had achieved the Vice-Pres- 
idency of a large corporation, used to continually 
complain of the terrific load of detail connected 
with his line of business. From complaint as to 
his own line, he began to make comparisons with 
other lines, one day calling my attention to the 
simplicity of the conduct of a business manu- 
facturing and marketing a single item. 

"Look," he said, "Jones over there plays golf a 
couple of days a week, gets down at nine and goes 
home at five. He has only one item to worry about, 



188 YOU 

and it's a mighty soft cinch compared to my eight 
to six o'clock job with a six hundred and seventy- 
two item line to lose sleep over." 

The other concern happened to be a client of mine, 
and as my friend was a highly efficient man and 
thoroughly competent, I was able to secure him 
an offer — a rather good one. 

He went over to go into the situation. "We spent 
two days in the little town where my client was 
located, and, although my friend Jamieson was 
enthusiastic over the proposition, he would not 
give a decision, and we took the train back to- 
gether. 

In the smoking-room of the Pullman, happening 
to be alone, he turned to me and said : 

" That's a fine business, I don't 'think." 

" How's that?" I asked in surprise, having rather 
lost my perspective. "I thought it would look 
pretty soft after what you've repeatedly told me 
about your own work." 



YOU 189 

"Why," he said, "they have more trouble in 
manufacturing that one item of theirs than we 
do with our six hundred odd. No wonder So- 
and-so goes and plays golf twice a week — the 
factory gets him out of bed a couple of times a 
night to get his Okay on something or other, and 
when that end is not bothering him, some sales- 
man or out-of-town customer is telegraphing or 
long-distancing, and that business of theirs is 
instanter — nothing can wait over until the next 
day." 

I interrupted him, " Plays golf twice a week and 
office hours nine to five. ' ' 

"Bosh! — plays golf with customers — he's work- 
ing just as hard as if he were in the office, and as 
far as those nine-to-five hours are concerned, I'll 
say his office hours are from twelve-one in the 
morning to eleven-fifty-five at night. Look here, 
Allen," and his expression was a little sheepish, 
"far-off fields look green simply because we see 
the weeds in our own and the others are so far 
away we don't know anything about them and 
imagine they're perfect. I'm frank to admit that 



190 YOU 

after having inspected the other fellow's field 

pretty carefully at close range it doe&n't look 

half as green or clean to me as my own, and I'm 

going back mighty thankful and satisfied with 

my position and everything connected with 
it." 

There's mighty big room for thought in that little 
incident. 

Selfism's first urge should be to inspect our own 
pastures — our own working-places and look for the 
good — the opportunities, whether for advance- 
ment or experience — and entirely overlook the 
disadvantages, whether of situation or personal- 
ity, and let the Law take care of the rest. 

Have you ever stopped to think that one man 
would consider it the greatest recreation in the 
world to be able to play golf every day of the 
year — in fact, some men spend thousands and 
thousands of dollars doing that very thing? 

And the golf professional works at it for a living. 
To his customers it is play — to him it's work. 



YOU 191 

Daily horseback rides spell recreation to many. 
Yet your man in the stockyards or your riding 
instructor straddles a horse as his daily task, and, 
instead of regarding it as a health-giving exercise, 
it is plain, everyday work. 

The man inside an office breathes deep and envies 
the fellow with an outside job, who's getting fresh 
air and exercise. 

And the man outside shivers a little with the cold 
and kicks his wet feet against something to get 
the blood circulating and wishes that he could 
have that other fellow's job, with nothing to do 
but sit in a warm, comfortable office and push a 
pen all day long. 

The essence of Selfism is to drop comparisons — 
get right down to what you are doing — view only 
the good points — work according to the Law and 
find happiness and interest in your daily 
task. 

Yes, happiness and interest. It's there if you'll 
only look. 



192 YOU 

If you can find interest in acquiring the skill nec- 
essary to hit a golf ball straight and true — to play 
a skillful, thoughtful game of bridge whist, then 
you can concentrate and acquire an interest in 
becoming more skillful in your daily work than 
those about you. 

And in this interest — this acquiring of skill — 'this 
dismissing of petty comparisons — this working 
under the Law — the practice of Selfism — you will 
find yourself broadening beyond the confines of 
the position you occupy and filling a bigger chair, 
no matter what the size of the one you're now 
sitting in may be. 

There is another side to Selfism— the scientific 
disposition of your Time — but that is out of place 
here, and several excellent textbooks on the sub- 
ject afford an interesting and fertile field for fur- 
ther development along lines of personal effi- 
ciency. 

"I work to progress. Time is precious 
and my Working Time must bear fruit. 
In working I will give more than I re- 
ceive to receive more than I give." 



TEXT SIXTEEN 

OPTIMISM UNDER THE LAW 

We were talking one day with the owner of a 
home overlooking the Hudson, who wanted to sell 
his place. It was one of the spots that will always 
stand out in my memory as ideal. 

My friend, who afterward purchased the estate, 
among other things, asked the owner why he 
wanted to sell. 

The man looked around at the beautiful trees, the 
well-kept sward, the handsome residence, and then 
glanced away across the Hudson at the majestic 
cliffs looming up through the mist on the other 
side. 

And his answer came as an anti-climax to the 
story his words told. He said : 

193 



194 YOU 

"I can never be happy here. I want to buy an- 
other place that suits me." 

There was food for a world of thought back of 
his words. He " couldn't be happy" in the most 
beautiful spot we had ever seen. 

And no wonder. His private life in that beautiful 
spot had been burdened with business care and 
family worry. When he looked around, instead 
of beautiful vistas he saw the ghosts of threat- 
ened financial disaster — between his eyes and the 
majestic Hudson came a thin but opaque screen 
of unpleasant memories. 

And he wanted to pursue happiness far away. 

I say to you that the pursuit of happiness is a 
fallacy — a terrible sower of the enemy of happi- 
ness — unrest. 

Happiness — success — achievement and content are 
all within you — and no matter where you move 
your physical body your happiness is within you, 
happiness can not come from without. 



YOU 195 

And Optimism — the second complement of the 
Prevailing Mental Attitude under the Law — is the 
belief — the absolute, unconquerable, positive be- 
lief in people and things — the outlook into a light, 
cheerful, successful world full of opportunities 
and happiness there for the grasping. 

Poverty was never a part of the scheme of Life. 
The Creator never ordained that one man should 
spend his days in squalor and want while an- 
other human enjoyed a tremendous cash sur- 
plus. 

The means for acquiring financial independence 
are yours to use if you will. But — why believe in 
the advantages of possessing sufficient money for 
your needs, if you don't and won't believe that 
the money is there to get. 

It is there. You know it is there. All you must 
do is realize that it is there for you. 

Why believe in the possibility of happiness in 
marriage unless you believe there is a girl for 
you? 



196 YOU 

Why agree that friendship holds interest and 
charm if you don't accept the fact that there are 
friends worth while and you can win them? 

The man who doesn't believe that the twenty- 
thousand-dollar position is there for him never 
connects with it — the man who doesn't believe 
that there is a girl who will make him an ideal 
wife never gets a good helpmate — the man who 
doesn't believe that he can make true, powerful 
friends never gains them. 

Belief — that's it — belief in what the world holds 
for you. That's what clears away the fogs and 
mist and shows opportunity on every side — op- 
portunity to realize every wish and every 
desire. 

With all your heart and soul you must believe 
that happiness is there — waiting for you — friends 
are waiting — money is waiting — all you have to 
do is exercise the Law and gain from the world 
what you want. 

Optimism under the Law is a perpetual belief — 



YOU 197 

a never-failing, not-to-be-shaken conviction that 
the world about you is overflowing with milk and 
honey for you. 

And to maintain this Optimism you must cast off 
reverses and disappointments as evil things — let 
them drop off the armor of your belief in the 
good things and maintain your constructive con- 
victions regardless of what may come. 

As illustration. 

Smith, living under the Law and needing and be- 
lieving that financial progress lies ahead of him, 
as the result of his belief attracts to himself the 
offer of a new position at thirty thousand dollars 
a year — twice what he is making. 

But the deal falls through — he fails to secure it. 

Now one of two things happens. Either Smith 
permits this little reverse to shake his Belief, 
and by that very action destroys the mental 
structure he has so painstakingly builded — or, 
continuing under the Law, he continues to Believe, 



198 YOU 

just as strongly and just as deeply as before. 
And again, out of his Belief, comes the thing he 
needs and wants, attracted to him just as surely 
and inevitably as the magnet attracts the steel 
that comes within its sphere of influence. Instead 
of an outside proposition, his employers learn 
of the deal that fell through and offer Smith the 
same thing in his own position. 

I do not expect you to accept these illustrations 
as one hundred per cent fact. They look too 
simple and almost childish to be true in this world, 
where we reck everything difficult of accomplish- 
ment. But they are true — they are parallels for 
your case and my case — and as surely as your 
eyes are on this page, out of your Belief comes 
quickly, simply and easily the things that now 
look difficult, almost impossible of accomplish- 
ment. 

Devious ways seem logical, according to the aver- 
age plan of things, but simple ways — the simplest 
way of all — the way of unshaken Belief in the 
opportunity that lies about you — is the surest 
way of all. 



YOU 199 

In a little town out West lives an old man of 
modest means and simple thought, a lover of na- 
ture and of all things connected with it. Though 
his home is difficult of access and far from men 
and things, the great of the world make pilgrimage 
there and count themselves privileged to call him 
friend. 

The reason lies in one thing, and one thing only. 
This man counts as happiness the friendship of 
brilliant minds and the companionship of nature. 
His latter aim was simple of realization — his first 
desire became reality simply through his Belief 
that it would — no doubts assailed him that the 
great of the world would scoff at his friendship 
— no fears of the tremendous wealth and posi- 
tion of the men who might be desirable asso- 
ciates. No — just a simple, never-ceasing Belief 
that eventually, out of common interests, would 
grow friendships that would be jewels in his 
crown of Life. 

Now, mind you, he has not sought the friendship 
of the great — he has sought the friendship of the 
men whose friendship he would enjoy. And these 



200 YOU 

men range from the smith in a little village to a 
man whose millions are almost regarded as a 
public menace. 

Belfef did it. 

Belief will do it for yon. Only, first, without 
fear or misgivings, you must Believe that the uni- 
verse holds for you only the good things — that 
when the bad things come they come as accidents 
and must be treated and dismissed as such. 

Now, mind you, Optimism under the Law is not 
that blind, unreasoning acceptance of all things 
and people as good. 

All things and all people are not good. But — 
the great majority of them are — the vast ma- 
jority. 

Consequently, you are justified in accepting all 
things and people as good until they are proven 
otherwise. 

And when they are proven otherwise, simply drop 



YOU 201 

them — discard them from your scheme of things 
as Darkness with which you will have no contact. 

But do not let Darkness disturb you. Dismiss 
it from your mind. Let in the Light and pro- 
ceed with your Belief — continue your Optimism 
under the Law and fill your mind so full of it 
that you have no room for destructive pessimism 
or Darkness. 

There are three enemies of mankind which attack 
this attitude of Optimism — which continually as- 
sail and try to break it down. These enemies — 
servants of Darkness — are Fear, Doubt and 
Worry. So important is it that you have a clear 
understanding of the methods of combating them 
that separate texts have been devoted to this sub- 
ject. 

Optimism under the Law does not find its ex- 
pression in words. The worker under the Law 
does not make speeches about his Belief — he sim- 
ply Believes and that is all there is to it. Men 
seek to bolster their confidence with loud words 
and empty phrases. When you really Believe you 



202 YOU 

do not need the spoken word to support you. 
Your Belief is stronger than circumstances or 
conditions. It is supreme. 

"I believe that Opportunity awaits 
me. I believe that I will get from the 
world what I want because I am pre- 
pared to give the world what it wants 
from me." 



TEXT SEVENTEEN 



EGOISM UNDER THE LAW 



One part of the prevailing Mental Attitude under 
the Law is as important as the other. 

Possess two and lack one and you can only par- 
tially succeed. 

A man practices Selfism — works intelligently and 
industriously — practices Optimism and believes in 
Opportunity. 

But — unless he possesses and practices the third 
complement, the first two will not carry him the 
distance he is entitled to go. 

For — to the other two things he must add un- 
faltering Belief in Himself — termed Egoism un- 
der the Law. 

203 



204 YOU 

Egoism, in the ordinary acceptance of the term, 
is a rather objectionable quality. 

Unconsciously we associate it with the man who 
boasts in loud terms who he is and what he is 
and what he has done and who, when we analyze, 
is nothing, has done nothing and can be nothing. 

But Egoism under the Law is that quiet, unas- 
sertive belief in one's ability to do the allotted 
task that makes a man unhesitatingly and un- 
questioningly approach the work at hand and 
complete it successfully. 

Egoism frees you from the handicap of self-de- 
preciation and establishes within you that confi- 
dence in self so essential to progress, whether it 
be business, social or financial. 

Suppose we regard the Prevailing Mental Atti- 
tude from the standpoint of its three comple- 
ments. 

Optimism makes you realize and know that good 
things are easily within reach — Selfism — intelli- 



YOU 205 

gent work enables you to make contact with them 
— but Egoism is the clincher — the final key that 
opens the door and makes the contents of the 
room yours for the taking. 

The difference between what people ordinarily 
term Egotism and Egoism under the Law is so 
vital that I want to emphasize again the differ- 
ence. 

An Egotist comes into the office of the men with 
whom I am associated to lay a business proposi- 
tion before them. He talks loud and blatantly — 
tells of what he has done and can do — lays out 
his goods for admiration rather than acceptance. 
He is objectionable, and an idle compliment on his 
personality or his speech satisfy him almost as 
well as if he accomplished the object of his call. 
Incidentally, the latter he seldom does. When he 
goes out, my principals say, " Likes himself pretty 
well, doesn't he!" 

On the other hand, your Egoist under the Law 
enters. His Optimism has made him believe that 
my firm is ready for his proposition — his Selfism 



206 YOU 

has brought him to their offices and will make 
him make every effort to accomplish his aim. 
And his Egoism makes him answer the question 
as to whether or not he is the man to carry the 
message in the affirmative. 

He starts to talk. His Belief permeates his lis- 
teners. He makes statements that from the Ego- 
tist would sound like boasts, but, coming from his 
lipSj carry conviction and bear the stamp of truth. 
His Belief is infectious, and he accomplishes his 
purpose. 

And when he leaves, my people say, "That man 
certainly deals in facts, doesn't he?" 

Do you get the distinction— it is one with a de- 
cided difference. 

Now, when you get right down to it, why shouldn't 
you be an Egoist under the Law? 

Let's consider it from a financial comparison. 

Measure yourself against a millionaire. 



YOU 207 

He has two legs — two eyes — a nose — ten fingers 
and ten toes. There isn't much difference be- 
tween yon, is there? 

He can talk — he can hear — he can smell — he can 
see. So can you. So can all of us. So where's 
the difference? 

His clothes may be better — his office finer — but 
money bought these things — the man made the 
money, but if you had the money you could buy 
as good. 

There's the difference. The man has more 
money than you. 

Well, you don't want a million — all you want is 
financial independence. That the Law is going to 
give you. So, after all, there is no difference, 
unless it be in your favor. 

In your dealings with this man you are surely 
entitled to Egoism enough to make you handle 
yourself easily and with as much certainty and 
sureness as he. 



208 YOU 

Now from the social side. 

You want friends. You are going to make them. 
Not by trying visibly to attract them, but by the 
strength of your character — your personality — 
your mode of thought — your natural, unaffected, 
desirable self. 

Other men are always seeking desirable friend- 
ships — whether they know it or not. 

So there you have a common point of contact. 

Now your Egoism must make you believe that 
you have as much to offer as they — put you on 
the same mental plane as those you meet. And 
then the Law takes care of the rest. 

Now, as a matter of fact, when you really enter 
on the practice of the Law—begin to develop 
your Brain faculties and exercise proper men- 
tal discipline, that moment you begin to be 
superior to ninety-five out of every hundred 
people you meet — their mental superior, and 
since the days of progress by physical prowess 



YOU 209 

are past you are master of most and the inferior 
of but few. 

Why shouldn't you be an Egoist under the Law? 

But — you can't exercise the privilege of being 
superior or showing it, for by so doing you sacri- 
fice a large part of the benefits attending it by 
working directly against the injunction of the 
Law. 

The fact that by your mental and brain develop- 
ment you have raised yourself above the majority 
of the people with whom you make contact is 
the thing WHICH ENABLES YOU TO GIVE 
MOKE THAN YOU RECEIVE— simply because 
YOU HAVE MORE TO GIVE. 

And your Egoism rapidly centralizes into plain 
self-confidence, free from false pride and pitfalls, 
an impelling power quality which places you in 
a position to do yourself justice under every and 
any condition. 

Have you ever stopped to realize that if Egoism 



210 YOU 

under the Law enables you to do that one thing 
— do yourself justice at all times — that it will 
from that standpoint alone smooth the path of 
Life and make it a straighter, easier road to 
follow? 

You have heard of the innocent man on trial, 
whose fear of possible errors and whose trem- 
bling at the unaccustomed atmosphere of courts 
and legal processes made him make so poor a 
showing that he, while innocent, appeared guilty. 

That is just one example of the importance of 
doing ourselves simple justice, of exercising such 
command of ourselves that we can at all times 
and under all conditions so handle ourselves that 
after analysis proves we at least did the best 
we were capable of. 

One of the many balls and shackles fastened on 
the legs of humanity is this peculiar situation, 
born of many reasons, why a man or a woman 
under unusual conditions does not act with the 
full degree of intelligence and ability that he or 
she is capable of. 



YOU 211 

Your chap who makes a wonderful speech to the 
four walls of the parlor, and then stutters and 
stammers lamely through it when he gets up 
before an audience, is one kind of an example. 

The handicaps — the destructive influences — the 
reasons are many — but if your Belief — your Op- 
timism and your Egoism be strong enough, you 
can anywhere, at any time, bring to bear all the 
power that is in you to master the situation at 
hand. 

Many of the teachings and adages given us in 
childhood inevitably remain and are a handicap 
in after life from their unrealized presence in 
our sub-conscious minds. 

Of these, I have in mind the tutelage that all well- 
meaning parents give their children to make them 
hold silence when in the presence of their elders 
— to be seen rather than heard. 

In itself, the teaching is all right. The child 
mind can not cope with that of older ones — the 
child is at a point of education — receiving rather 



212 YOU 

than giving. But in after life the same thought 
sometimes restrains many men and women from 
giving to the world what they have of value. 

The time for repression is long past — not the time 
for control, but the time for repression. You, 
entering into Life under the Law, must give so 
that you may receive, and in the giving find pleas- 
ure and profit. 

Be Egoistical — not Egotistical. Believe in your- 
self that you may induce Belief in others. 

Compare yourself — and permit not the compari- 
son to find yourself wanting. Do not put your- 
self on the scales to prove that you weigh more 
than the other fellow, but to prove that you weigh 
as much. That is all that is necessary' for the 
foundation of Egoism under the Law. 

Egoism is an attitude of Mind. Selfism and Op- 
timism are attitudes of mind. 

The combination of the three is an attitude of 
mind that, once it becomes a fixed habit, gets out 



YOU 213 

of every waking hour the maximum enjoyment 
and profit it holds and surrounds its possessor 
with an aura of cheer and success — an unstudied 
magnetism that attracts all with whom he makes 
contact. 

"I can. I will. I am willing to give, 
therefore I am stronger than most. I 
can. I will." 



TEXT EIGHTEEN 

THE MASTERY OP SELF — MENTAL 

Back of the farmhouse in the mountains was a 
little granary, and out in front, under the pale 
sunshine of late Summer, stood the farmer and 
his hired hand. 

Indicating a sack of grain, the farmer curtly or- 
dered his man to carry it to the mill. 

Now the mountain mill was a mile away, but 
the laborer was strong and the task easily within 
his power. 

But, before obeying orders, he went into the 
granary and emerged with two empty bags, which, 
under the owner's wondering eyes, he began to 
fill with heavy stones. 

When the first bag was filled he stacked it with 

214 



YOU 215 

the stack of grain, and, struggling and straining, 
finally managed to lift them to his shoulder and 
walk a few steps, with legs that trembled under 
the heavy load. 

Not satisfied, he came back, dropped his load and 1 
began filling the third sack with stones. 

The task finished, he attempted to shoulder the 
three heavy sacks. He pulled and strained and 
perspired, but to save his life he couldn't raise 
the impossible load over six inches off the 
ground. 

Finally, tiring of watching him, the farmer 
spoke : 

"What are you going to do with the stones ?" 

The rustic straightened up and wiped his per- 
spiring brow. "Take 'em to mill, I guess.' ' 

"What for?" 

The other man scratched his head. 



216 YOU 

"Dunno. Jes' goin' to take , em. ,, 

"They've got plenty of the same kind of stones 
over there. What would yon do with them when 
you got them to the mill?" 

" Throw 'em away." 

The farmer looked at him steadily. 

"Why don't you leave the stones here, then? 
Just tote the grain as I told you in the first 
place." 

"Well," the laborer straightened up in pleased 
surprise, "I never thought of that." 

And, reaching down, he swung the sack of grain 
easily over his shoulder and strode off down the 
green-bordered path that led to the main road. 

What do you think of that story — what does it 
suggest to you? 

Probably you'll say, "The laborer was a half- 



YOU 217 

wit — the story is impossible. It never could have 
happened,' ' or something like that. 

And you'll be right. 

The story is impossible — it never could have hap- 
pened with a farmer, a hired hand, a sack of 
grain and a couple of bags of stones. 

You can see these things — you can weigh them 
and feel them with your fingers. 

But — the thing this story illustrates is happening 
every day with the things you can't see and weigh 
and feel. 

The majority of humanity are carrying useless, 
unprofitable mental burdens that sag their 
shoulders and weigh down their brains to the 
point where clear, constructive thought is im- 
possible. 

And then they wonder why they are mentally 
tired, why the world looks gray and progress* 
fails. 



218 YOU 

Consider first the fact that to every human in 
the due course of things come a natural quota 
of problems, questions and mental burden. 

But this burden — the natural burden — is like the^ 
farmer's sack of grain going to the mill. You 
are easily capable of handling the load. 

And it is a constructive load — the constant meet- 
ing with these problems and handling them suc- 
cessfully is a medium of mind development and 
character building. 

But on top of that normal — that profitable load 
— most men, like the hired hand filling the sacks 
with stones — voluntarily — of their own accord, 
load themselves down with an additional burden 
of Fear and of Doubt and of Worry. 

There they are — Fear — and Doubt — and Worry. 
The three useless, destructive mental burdens that 
hamper humanity. 

Everything in this world must either help or 
hinder Progress under the Law. 



YOU 219 

If it helps more than it hinders, we must accept 
the evil for the sake of the good. 

But Fear and Doubt and Worry are hin- 
drances unqualified — they can't, won't and don't 
help. They always have and always will 
harm. 

When you begin to add Fear and Doubt and 
Worry to your normal load you are like the la- 
borer with his first sack of stones. You can prob- 
ably stagger along under it, but half your burden 
is worse than useless. 

But as time goes on Fear and Worry and Doubt 
begin to be bad habits growing at an alarming 
rate — attaching themselves to every thought and 
every action — until finally, unless successfully 
overcome, you stand in the position of the laborer 
when he had his two sacks of stone and his one 
of grain — you've built yourself a load you can't 
lift off the ground. 

To combat an enemy you must recognize its ex- 
istence — in the beginnings at least — you must 



220 YOU 

know how to divert the attacks so that they will 

pass and leave you unharmed. 

When you have developed Optimism, Egoism and 
Selfism to the point where your Prevailing Men- 
tal Attitude under the Law is a strongly in- 
trenched mental habit, then your walls of defense 
are up and the enemy can not pass. Fear — Doubt 
and Worry will have no place in your mental 
scheme of things, and therefore you will not be 
subject to their harmful influence. 

But, while your Prevailing Mental Attitude is in 
the course of building, these destructive influ- 
ences, the common enemy of mankind, will attack 
repeatedly and must be repelled for the sake of 
your safety and progress under the Law. 

This, then, is the Mastery of Self from the Mental 
side — a safeguard to your progress while you are 
developing the proper habits of thought under 
the Law. 

It is an expedient, if you will — but an important 
one and one which must not be overlooked. 



YOU 221 

A full understanding is at all times the basis 
of success. 

So, before we consider the specifics for the con- 
quering of Fear, Doubt and Worry, we must fully 
understand their sources and various phases. 

The degree in which one is subject to these harm- 
ful influences depends largely upon the mental 
make-up of the individual. 

r 

Some people only add enough Fear and Worry 
and Doubt to their normal and profitable burden 
to hamper their progress — handicap them and 
substitute torture for pleasure. They struggle 
through somehow, and finally arrive somewhere, 
but enjoyment of life and the art of living are 
closed books to them. 

On the other hand, with other people the evil be- 
comes an obsession — assumes proportions that 
make it impossible for these unfortunates to pro- 
gress at all — pins them down in the dust and dirt 
of mental agony under a burden too heavy to 
bear. 



222 YOU 

And the beginnings of many, many physical ills, 
ranging from simple indigestion to serious nerv- 
ous diseases that come dangerously close to 
paralysis, find their beginnings in these ' ^ little ? ' 
things — Fear and Doubt and Worry. 

Persisted in — carried to excess — these evils will 
absolutely wreck the physical body — even cause 
insanity. 

The first thing that you must establish clearly in 
your mind is that Fear holds you back when you 
should go ahead — Doubt delays necessary action 
and Worry befogs your mental processes. 

There is no saving grace in any of these three 
evils. They are unqualifiedly destructive. They 
can not possibly do good and they will surely do 
harm. 

Two men were at an Eastern health resort — both 
as near mental and physical wrecks as men can 
be and yet carry the spark of life in their bodies. 

One had arrived at this condition through ex- 



YOU 223 

cesses in which women and liquor and gambling 
had played the leading roles. 

The other man, born wealthy, but naturally avari- 
cious, had, through continual Fear of being bested 
in financial transactions, Worry lest he lose and 
Doubt of everybody and everything, wrecked him- 
self. 

The same physician attended both, and, through 
a gossiping nurse, the rake learned the cause of 
the illness of his fellow sufferer. 

They were both out on the veranda in their 
wheeled chairs one day, when the roue, summon- 
ing up a little strength, leaned forward and spoke. 

"I'm sorry for you," he said. 

"Why?" The other man was too weak to raise 
his head. "You're as sick as I am." 

"Yes," and the rake's voice had a note of vic- 
tory, "but I had some fun getting this way and 
you didn't." 



224 YOU 

Irrespective of what we may think of this man's 
idea of what constitutes enjoyment, the big point 
he made was right. No man — no woman — no 
matter how perverted their view of Life, could 
possibly find any enjoyment or profit in Worry 
or Fear or Doubt. 

The man who wrecks himself through excesses 
at least has the excuse that he thinks he is enjoy- 
ing himself in the doing, but the man who handi- 
caps himself through the mental disease simply 
subjects himself to day-in, day-out sufferings con- 
tinually on the increase, ever more keen, whether 
he finally succumbs entirely or just struggles on 
under a burden too heavy to bear. 

All things, good or evil, must have a beginning. 

Fear and Doubt and Worry in their beginnings 
are not big things — they are just little seeds in 
a corner of our mind. 

A match dropped in a forest is a small thing, yet 
it may burn a thousand miles of timber before 
the flames it starts die down. 



YOU 225 

The way to prevent the forest fire is to put out 
the match. 

The way to combat Fear and Doubt and Worry 
is not to fight them, but to prevent them. 

Every man who has been about the woods knows 
the terrors and hardships — yes, almost impossi- 
bility of successfully fighting a full-fledged forest 
•fire. 
• 

Every man who has struggled in the throes of 
full-grown, full-fledged Fear and Worry and 
Doubt knows how they paralyze his faculties — 
how they seize the throne of reason and make 
sane mental control impossible. 

Yet the forest rangers save the necessity of 
fighting forest fires by seeing that the little 
blazes are extinguished before they become big 
ones. 

The keynote of mastery of self from the mental 
side is not to fight Fear and Doubt and Worry — 
but — to prevent them. 



226 Y U 

Man Fears what the Future Holds. 

Man Doubts the future. 

Man Worries over the Future. 

In other words, practically all Fear and Doubt 
and Worry centralize themselves on the Future 
• — the unknown. 

We don't Fear what has happened. 

We don't Doubt what has been done when we 

know it is accomplished. 

We don't Worry over what has passed, except as 

to what it may cause. 

Fear and Doubt and Worry are all focused on 
what may happen. And our imagination — turned 
into destructive channels — conjures up imaginary 
evils and imaginary ills until we suffer as if they 
actually had arrived and were present, instead of 
being merely mental pictures. 

Now, as a matter of fact, review a few of the 
cases where you have suffered from Fear or Doubt 
or Worry — singly or together as they usually 
come. 



YOU 227 

Have the terrible things you conjured up ever 
happened? No. Your mental picture was worse 
than the reality in every case. And it always 
will be so. 

The most terrible consequences that could possi- 
bly come to any person in this world are to be 
saddled with Fear and Worry and Doubt. 

Fear and Worry and Doubt are mental diseases. 

And they can be cured best through prevention. 

Here, then, is the way. / 

Your mind is a canvas upon which imagination 
and auto-suggestion paints pictures of things that 
have been and things that are to come. 

When Fear or Doubt or Worry assail — when they 
stretch out their greedy fingers for the brushes 
to paint their terrible pictures on your mental 
canvas — stop them — stop them at once. Don't 
let the brushes lie idle — paint a constructive pic- 
ture where they are trying to paint a destructive 



228 YOU 

one — leave them no tools to work with — no canvas 
to paint upon — and, lo and behold! in the place 
of the troubles of tomorrow are the joys of today 
and life is light and cheerful and happy instead 
of dark and despondent and gray and dank. 

When Fear approaches, with its infernal begin- 
ings, affirm and say: 

"I Fear not. I am master of myself and my 
destiny. Fear has no place in the chambers of 
my "mind," 

When Doubt intrudes its hydra-head affirm, say : 

"I Believe. I Believe because it is best for me 
to believe. I believe until I know, then I know. 
I will not Doubt.' ' 

When Worry comes and knocks at the door of 
your mental chambers, again affirm, say: 

"My Yesterdays are full of joy and happiness. 
My Tomorrows will be mirrors of what has gone 
before. What is to come will come and I welcome 



YOU 229 

tomorrow because it holds what I myself have 
placed there today.' ' 

Affirm — repeat — until the monsters have disap- 
peared. Let the flood of Light into your mental 
chambers and the Law precludes the entry of 
Darkness. 



TEXT NINETEEN 

THE MASTERY OF SELF — PHYSICAL 

Out in Arizona there are two ranch-houses within 
a mile of each other. Each rancher has a car of 
a certain well-known make. Just for the sake of 
identification we will call our ranchers Smith and 
Jones. 

Smith's car is always out of whack — never runs 
right — half the time he hitches up the pintos to 
go to town. On the other hand, Jones' car is 
always on the job. Many times he takes Smith 
in and listens to his tale of motor woe on the 
way. 

One day he decided to investigate a little. 

"What's the matter with the bus. now. Smith V 9 
he asked. 

230 



YOU 231 

" Sooty pings. I could liave fixed 'em if I'd 
had time, but you were going in and I was in a 
hurry.' ' 

"So?" Jones was thoughtfully silent for a while 
as his motor hummed and his wheels rolled off 
the miles. Finally he spoke again, "What did 
you have her down for last week — saw you tinker- 
ing a bit one day?" 

"Oh, yes." Smith was on a subject close to his 
heart — one he could reel off lectures on. 
"Thought I had a bad bearing, but it was only 
a dry place — no oil." 

"Smith," asked his friend, "have you ever had 
any real trouble with that car of yours 1 ' ' 

"Trouble! Say, that's all I have had." 

"I never have any." 

"No, but you drew a good car." 

"Same make — same year." 



232 YOU 

"I know, but it r s a better car." 

Jones looked sidewise out of his eyes and then 
made a rare speech. 

" Smith, your car's all right. The trouble's with 
you — not the car." 

"What do you mean!" 

"Well — if you'd keep her oiled and the plugs 
clean and give her water and gas she'd go the 
way mine does." 

"But " said Smith with the air of one ad- 
vancing an unanswerable argument, "she doesn't 
go the way yours does." 

Jones ignored the interruption, and calmly pro- 
ceeded. 

"You don't take regular care of your car — oiling 
and cleaning — and you're always looking for 
trouble. The little things that inevitably arise 
from carelessness — lack of care — you mistake for 



YOU 233 

big things and start pulling down your motor or 
adjusting your carburetor — tinkering with a car 
that needs nothing except regular care." 

Smith was a fair-minded man, and he sat silent 
for several minutes thinking it over; then he 
spoke up : 

"I don't know but what you're right. Most of 
my lay-ups are caused by the tinkering and search- 
ing I'm doing rather than any real reason. And 
when I do find the troubles they're always little 
things — things that, as you say, with proper care 
would never happen." 

Every one of us who has had experience with 
automobiles will recognize the truth of this story. 
The man who gets service out of his car is the 
fellow who gives it the care it needs and then 
ignores the little things — just runs right ahead 
and isn't always looking for trouble or an excuse 
to tear his car apart. 

But the lesson applies with equal force to your 
physical well-being. 



234 YOU 

The basis of all health is proper living — good 
food — fresh air — exercise — adequate rest — these 
constitute the foundation upon which you must 
build. 

If a man ignores these things — the regular care 
his body needs—then — inevitably some sort of 
danger signal in the form of an ache or a pain 
must be hoisted by Nature to warn him that his 
body needs care — not pills or medicine — but care. 

Now, even with the best of care, certain pin pricks 
of ill feeling are bound to evidence themselves. 
An occasional headache — a dull feeling — but 
they must not be construed as signs of approach- 
ing disease or anything of that sort. The trouble 
with bodily ills is that a small thing may be mag- 
nified into seeming a very big one if yielded to. 

If you know that you are eating proper food — 
getting real rest and recreation — plenty of fresh 
air properly breathed — enough exercise to work 
off the poisons — then you need not fear these lit- 
tle things — you can and shall easily and success- 
fully throw them off. 



YOU 235 

The greatest danger to man's body comes not 
from infection without, but from infection within. 
The enemies treated on in the preceding text — 
Fear — Doubt— Worry — all negative emotions are 
poisonous — poisonous not only to the mind, but 
to the body itself. 

The two steps to bodily control — to the yielding 
from life in a physical sense all the enjoyment it 
holds are — first, a freedom from destructive emo- 
tions — that comes under the practice of the Law ; 
second, proper living. I am not going to ex- 
pound on the diets, exercises, breathing methods, 
etc., that come under the head of proper living, 
simply because so much has been written on this 
subject that every reading person must know the 
simple formulas. This proper living should not 
be approached as a fad or something to be car- 
ried to extremes. A simple policy in this respect 
should be decided upon and carried out. That 
is all. It will soon become a habit and require 
no conscious thought to execute. 

Now, as a matter of fact, most of the suffering 
in this world from the physical side comes, not 



236 YOU 

from the major afflictions, but from the minor 

illnesses. 

Eight here review your own experience. Have 
you ever had a limb cut off — have you ever had 
a major operation — have you ever had an illness 
which bound you hand and foot so you could not 
move? 

The answer in the majority of cases is "No." 

Most of the physical troubles of mankind are 
minor ones. We suffer, if we permit ourselves 
to, from the little, inconsequential things which 
are absolutely under our control. 

You may have a headache — or think you have 
one. Yielded to, permitted to engross your atten- 
tion — your mind — that headache may grow to a 
point where you can think of nothing else — where 
all of the unbounded faculties for enjoyment your 
body affords are utterly useless — overshadowed 
by a little thing which you can dissipate as 
easily as you can lift a glass of water to your 
lips. r 



YOU, 237 

A good many years ago I ran across a set of 
statistics nsed by a concern marketing a product 
to physicians. I do not know the source — I do 
not know whether they were authentic — but I do 
know that I have been unable to procure any fig- 
ures since that bear on the subject. 

So, for the sake of illustrating my point, without 
using definite percentages, I am going to give 
the statistics as I remember them. 

This concern said, in effect, that of every hundred 
people who walked into a doctor's office a very 
high majority — well above the three-quarters 
mark — did not need medicine at all — their ills, 
in plain English, were imaginary. 

Stop and consider this fact. Three-quarters of 
the people who visit physicians think they are 
sick and are not sick at all. 

Now, mind you, I believe in the good doctor — 
in the physician who knows his profession and 
understands humanity. He can do as much good 
by proving to these people that they are not ill 



238 YOU 

— by heading off their imaginary trouble — as he 
could in curing someone who really was in need 
of medical attention. 

If you are living under the Law, just three-quar- 
ters of the troubles which humanity imagine they 
suffer from have departed from you, because you 
are not going to think that you are ill — imagine 
yourself sick. 

I have a very dear friend who is a physician. 
I can not quote him, but in effect he has said to 
me, "Many people come to me who are sound 
as a dollar, who not only think they are sick, but 
apparently want to be ill. They won't believe 
me when I tell them that they are in splendid 
condition." 

You don't want to be ill. Under the Law you will, 
as I said before, miss those imaginary troubles 
which are simply children of Fear and Worry. 

But, to get back to our statistics, if you can 
term them such. The remaining twenty-five per 
cent of a physician's callers were divided into a 



YOU, 239 

large class that were really ill — their illnesses 
directly traceable to the bodily result of Fear and 
Worry and Doubt and other poisonous emotions 
• — to wrong living. 



Certainly, under the Law, you are freed from the 
ills that come from mental poison. Moreover, if 
you want to be well you can give your body the 
health habits it needs. 

And when you do these things you free yourself 
from just about ninety per cent of the physical 
ills that mankind is heir to or thinks he is 
heir to! 

Just think of it — ninety per cent! 

There is no way of figuring these percentages, 
but my judgment leads me to believe that those 
figures are nearer right than wrong, and if you 
have a good friend in the medical profession 
ask him. confidentially some time for his esti- 
mates. 

But — the thing is that the chances are a hundred 



240 YOU 

to one against your ever coming in the really 
afflicted minority if you live under the 
Law and give your body the attention it 
requires. 

These are generalities. But, in this case, gen- 
eralities are necessary because this volume is 
destined for a wide circulation among many 
different people living under many varied con- 
ditions. 

There is, under the Law, a specific method of 
combating the minor troubles that beset our path. 
It is based on sound scientific lines and simply 
enables you to do for yourself what any physician 
or mentalist in whom you had confidence could 
do for you if you went to him. 

The other man would end your imaginary ill by 
mental suggestion. You can end it yourself by 
auto-suggestion. 

Suppose we take a look at a funnel — an ordinary 
tin, conical-shaped funnel such as everyone uses 
for conveying liquid into a small-necked bottle. 



YOU 241 

The big end of the funnel receives the liquid, and 
it emerges at the small end. 

Now the sensory and nervous system of the 
physical body may be likened to the big end of 
a funnel, receiving and telegraphing all sensa- 
tions to the small end of the funnel which pours 
these sensations into the brain. 

You smell smoke — instantly this sensation re- 
ceived at the big end of the funnel emerges at 
the small end and enters the brain. You see fire 
— ditto — your finger touches something hot — all 
sensations, whether received by the senses or the 
nervous system, are instantly placed in transmis- 
sion to the brain. 

Our body, our senses, to continue our crude illus- 
tration, are all a part of the big end of the funnel, 
conveying into the brain sensations, whatever 
their source. 

In nature's scheme of things this system of trans- 
mission of sensation to brain centers was planned 
so that the brain, as the seat of action, might in 



242 YOU 

turn direct action appropriate to the sensation 

received. 

The fact that these sensations are communicated 
to the brain by way of secondary brains or gan- 
glions is immaterial. The effect is the same. 

A moment ago we spoke about your finger coming 
in contact with something hot. Suppose we con- 
tinue the illustration. 

Your finger, we will say, comes in contact with 
a live coal. Instantly the sensation is telegraphed 
to the brain, and the brain, recognizing it as a 
danger signal, orders the finger withdrawn that 
no further damage may be suffered. The muscles 
respond, and the whole thing is over with quicker 
than a wink. 

The object of the sensory system has been ac- 
complished, but there is still present a pain — a 
warning signal not to bruise or further tear the 
wounded tissue until it heals. 

That slight pain is a protection — a warning signal 



YOU 243 

— the nearer the tissue becomes normal, the more 
it is adapted to use, the less the pain, until finally 
the finger heals and the pain — the signal — is 
gone. 

So much for the proper use of the sensory sys- 
tem. 

But this, nature's protective system, may easily 
be turned into a menace through permitting imag- 
ination to mingle with the simple, active functions 
of the brain, even to the extent of receiving false 
pain signals when none are ringing. 

Destructive imagination may seize upon that 
burnt-finger pain signal and so enlarge upon it 
that the entire mind becomes centered around that 
inconsequential little piece of blistered tissue. It 
can easily be so thought about and enlarged that 
it wilFbecome a really big source of annoyance. 

Naturally, the burnt finger is used only as an 
illustration — headaches — melancholia — the com- 
moner and more menacing things — are the ones 
that we must consider in this light. 



244 YOU 

Now let's go back to our tin funnel. 

We all know that water can be poured in the big 
end and will emerge at the small end of the fun- 
nel. At one time or another we have all done 
this thing. 

We know, too, that water poured in the small 
end would come out at the big end, but we haven't 
done this because the funnel was not built to use 
that way — there is no advantage in it. 

Now is it not logical and perfectly scientific to 
believe that if the physical "funnel" receives 
through its varied stations and communicates to 
the brain centers that in turn the brain can re- 
verse the flow and act upon the body — just as a 
funnel can be reversed? 

There may be no advantage in reversing a funnel, 
but there is a decided advantage in reversing the 
action of the sensory system so as to place the 
brain in command. Every year Science advances 
more and more proof that many so-called "dis- 
eases" are closely allied and can be effectively 



YOU 245 

reached through the action of the brain in con- 
trol of the nervous system. 

Take this principle and analyze it in relation to 
a headache, for instance. 

Through the sensory system the brain receives 
the message that the head is going to ache. 

Now if you give up and say, "I have a head- 
ache. It is terrible. It is going to get worse. I 
shan't be able to work — even think' ' — if you say 
that — if your attitude is receptive, you are going 
to have that headache and have it bad. 

The headache is like the dollar held close to the 
one eye with the other shut — it will obscure even 
the sun. And although you know that the sun 
is bigger than the dollar you can't see it because 
the coin is so close to your eye it blinds it. 

This is what some people do with little aches and 
pains — they permit their sensory vibrations to 
become so loud and alarming that everything else 
is lost — obscured. 



246 YOU 

Now, on the other hand, if yon stop to consider 
that, in spite of the threatening headache, yon still 
have the nse of yonr faculties — you can talk, walk, 
write, think and see and hear. And if you tele- 
graph back to the receiving end of the funnel that 
your brain refuses to accept its message of pain 
— that it is a small thing — then you have reversed 
the flow and you will have no headache. Try it. 
Try it not alone on headaches, but all minor ills. 

It takes longer to pour water back through the 
small end of a funnel than it does the natural 
way. 

Eeaction against physical pain through action of 
the brain is slower than the receiving of it, but 
it is just as certain. 

But — remember — the basis, the foundation, is — 
right living — right thinking. And with these two 
stones in place the reactionary principles given 
above for combating minor ailments are seldom 
necessary. 



TEXT TWENTY 

THE MASTERY OF OTHER MEN 

A successful life under the Law finds its expres- 
sion, first, in the powers within you; second, in 
their application to your life and your contact 
with humanity from day to day. 

Any man who tried to develop power with the 
sole idea of making himself happy and contented 
would be defeating the purpose of the Law just 
as much as the man who tries to apply it solely 
to the making of money. One is as selfish and 
destructive as the other. 

The development within you under the Law must 
find its outlet in your contact with other men. Its 
sole purpose is to enable you to actually give 
more than you receive — to enable you to intelli- 
gently and ably live within the Law. 

247 



248 YOU 

And then, automatically, out of your free giving 
to humanity come the rewards of happiness, at- 
tracting others to you, attracting independence 
and finding interest and content where others rush 
feverishly by, still seeking the goals you reach 
every hour, every day as you pass along Life's 
highway. 

If two men know each other and are mutually 
attracted, there must be an exchange of values 
as a basis of permanent friendship. And, if the 
mere meeting of the minds offers the flint and 
steel that strike the sparks of fresh ideas, new 
thought, then the medium of exchange is present. 
Or — if one man finds rest in the other's company 
and the other man finds inspiration in his friend's 
companionship, still the values are being ex- 
changed and the foundation of friendship is firm. 

This basis of exchange of values is sound at every 
step and turn of life. The men who can give 
even a fair value received to their fellows win 
progress far beyond the average. And the man 
who practices the Law and gives more than he 
receives always, without further effort, attracts 



YOU 249 

to himself the things that others seek and strive 
for. There is no effort required beyond a study 
of and development under the Law. As the Law 
becomes stronger in its control over your thoughts 
and actions, its circle of influence grows more 
powerful and widens out. 

There is no material thing, and but few mental 
ones, that do not find you dependent upon your 
fellow man for fulfillment. 

Fame is but the plaudits of mcmy men for an- 
another. 

Financial independence represents money re- 
ceived from other men. 

Friendship comes to man from men. 

Happiness is within, but unless you are a hermit 
in the mountains, men play their part in filling 
your cup of content. So — Man to you is all-im- 
portant. 

Under the Law, your powers super-develop. 



250 YOU 

Your mentality is formed into habits of Light 
and Happiness. 

The immediate result is mental strength and 
mental house-cleaning, freeing your spirit and 
soul from the unnecessary burdens and giving 
you greater power to cope with Life as it comes. 

But with this development process within you 
comes a change that you can not see or feel your- 
self — a change that is a change of spirit — it is 
felt by every man with whom you make contact 
— in developing yourself under the Law you are 
developing ll personality,' p magnetism — call it 
what you will. 

And there, before even a word passes, you have 
won the interest of the men you meet. 

Stop a moment and think that over. I want to 
make it very clear. It is important that you 
understand it. 

After you meet other men, your very following 
of the Law — your habit of giving more than you 



YOU 251 

receive — not in effusive words or bombastic ac- 
tions — but by every move — every word — cements 
close the bonds of interest and commands re- 
spect. 

Under the Law you are Happiness, you are a 
dwelling-place of Light, and from the spiritual 
standpoint alone others will seek you. 

But there is more than merely the spiritual side 
— you are evenly developed — your Brain powers 
command respect and attract the attention of 
all. 

And out of the c ' brass ' ' and i ' copper ' ' and ' ' zinc ' 9 
and the rest of the " man-metals' ' you meet, your 
life under the Law will attract the "steel" of 
the men who have the things to give that make 
your life easier as you travel along. 

If any reader at this point has the thought, "No 
man is going to give me anything," I am going 
to take it as proof that he has not accepted the 
work seriously and understood the Law. For — 
under the Law you are giving more than you 



252 YOU 

receive, and what comes to you in return is given 
you — not by man — but by the Law, which all man- 
kind obeys. 

Now the title of this text is "The Mastery of 
Other Men," and it is, in a sense, a misnomer, 
for there is no such thing as successful "mastery" 
of men in the brutish, driving sense the word 
"mastery" usually implies* 

A man in the Navy who is a real thinker once told 
me that the hardest "master" of men was not 
the one every gob was afraid of, but the man 
they were ashamed not to follow. 

I wonder if that is clear. "Mastery," in the true 
sense of the word, is not domination, but attrac- 
tion. 

You can really master men through attracting 
them. That is mental dominance, not through any 
conscious exercise of attraction, but through the 
inevitable workings of the Law. 

Yesterday afternoon an incident occurred that so 



YOU 253 

clearly illustrates this point that I am going 
to insert it here before the pages go to 
press. 

Two big men, strong men, are associated in a 
business. One, the Secretary, is located in San 
Francisco; the other, the President, is in Mil- 
waukee. 

The San Francisco man walked into the Milwaukee 
partner's office and laid on his desk proxies rep- 
resenting the majority of the stockholders of the 
corporation. 

The Milwaukee man glanced over them, mentally 
noting that they represented control of the cor- 
poration, and calmly looked up. 

"Yes!" he said inquiringly, and his voice was 
even and undisturbed as this printed page. 

The San Francisco officer waved a knotted fist in 
his superior's direction, and when he spoke there 
was a world of truculence and hostility in his 
voice. 



254 YOU 

"There's the control of this outfit for me to vote. 
Today is Friday — the annual meeting comes Mon- 
day. You've been President long enough. Now 
it's my turn. Understand?" 

The interview ended. There really wasn't much 
more to say. The President called in his col- 
leagues and told them of the incident. They raved 
and spat and called the other man an ingrate. 

But the President shook his head and remained 
calm. 

One man spoke up and made a definite suggestion. 
He said: 

' i Look here, So-and-so. You 're a bigger man than 
this other fellow. Get him back in here. Domi- 
nate him. Bulldoze him. You can frighten him 
into dropping this plan of action. ' ' 

Again the President shook his head. His words 
came slowly, but were impressive because of the 
sincerity behind them. He said : "If it was meant 
that he is to be President now, he will be Presi- 



YOU 255 

dent. What is meant will happen. If it is meant 
that I retain the chair, the Law will take care 
of it." 

The others did not understand because they do 
not live the Law. And the man from San Fran- 
cisco, although able, was not living under the 
Law. 

Yesterday was Monday. The meeting was to be 
at four in the afternoon. The two men met at 
ten in the morning. And here is what happened. 

The man from the West blustered and stormed. 
And when he had finished, the President admitted 
the justice of some of his points, then directed 
his attention to other phases of the case. What 
was said was logical, sane and to the point, but 
if I put it here in cold type you'd call the whole 
story silly because it doesn't sound as if it would 
win a case. But something did win the case, and 
before the interview was over the man from out 
West had dumped his proxies on the President's 
desk and told him to do with them as he 
desired. 



256 YOU 

The rest of the crowd in the Milwaukee office, 

when they saw the proxies, suggested that the 

insurgent be voted out of the corporation, quieted 

for good. But the presiding officer shook his 

head. 

"No," he said calmly. "He only wanted to be 
President. There's no harm in that. I wanted 
the same thing myself once. If it's a crime 
for him it was a crime for me. Maybe he 
will be President yet when the right time 
comes." 

And when the man from San Francisco returned 
to his wife he told her what had happened. And 
she asked him why he had given up his cherished 
hope and the proxies for which he had spent so 
much money and effort. And he told her: "I 
don't know why. I only know that when I got 
there alone with Jim I started out to browbeat 
him, but it was like punching a sheet of live 
rubber — resistance enough, but you couldn't get 
force into the blows. And then we got talking, 
and it wasn't what he said or did — but — I just 
couldn't, that's all." 



YOU 257 

And that's all there is to the story, except the 
lesson, which is well worth studying a little. 

First of all, the President failed to get excited 
when he got the news of the insurgent in the 
ranks. He accepted it calmly and in his usual 
undisturbed state of mind. Secondly, he put 
himself in the other man's place and made due 
allowance for 'the situation — did not resent the 
action. And, thirdly, he rightly took the attitude 
that if it was meant to come it would come. This 
was not fatalism — an acceptance of the inevitable 
without a struggle — it was a part of his habit of 
thought and living — that habit which enabled him 
to meet the crisis in a manner which left his 
powers and faculties free to act. Where an or- 
dinary mortal would have had anger and excite- 
ment, and possibly apprehension, tearing away 
at and numbing his faculties, this man went in, 
knowing that no matter what came it was all for 
the best. 

This belief that everything is for the best is 
an all-important part of the Law. I have not 
elaborated upon it, simply because it comes of it- 



258 YOU 

self after you have progressed in the study. But 
I do want to distinguish it from fatalism by a 
simple illustration. Your fatalist swims in the 
sea, a storm arises — he believes he is going to be 
drowned — he stops swimming and is drowned, not 
by the storm, but by his wrong belief. Under the 
Law the swimmer encounters the storm with the 
belief that whatever is to come is for the best ; he 
does not look ahead for consequences, simply be- 
cause he knows that his safety is in better hands 
than his own, and calmly, without fear or excite- 
ment, he swims, conserves his strength and — is 
saved. 

Now back to our corporation people. When the 
President entered upon the interview he simply 
followed out the Law of giving more than he re- 
ceived. In the face of the other man's actions 
he gave frankness, honesty and confidence. He 
fairly and squarely covered the situation from the 
other man's standpoint as well as his own. And 
under the Law, since it was not meant that he 
should fail, he did not fail. The combination 
of attraction, effort and a life under the Law 
won. 



YOU 259 

That sounds like a fairy story, but it's hard, cold 
fact, a matter of record in the minds of the execu- 
tives of one of the country's big corporations. 
And it is as wonderful an exposition of the work- 
ing of the Law in its various aspects as a man 
would want to find. 

Accept the Law and the Law will care for you. 

The living the Life and development hour by hour 
and day by day is simply a matter of training for 
Life's crises. The unearned increment comes in 
immediate happiness and continual progress 
which are continuous rewards for pursuing the 
work. Most of us are beset and hampered by 
the little things — the pursuit of the Law makes 
Life's path smooth, and when we do meet what 
seem mountains to the mass of weary mortals 
the Law smooths away the precipices and keeps 
our path even and level and easy to traverse. 

Auto- or self-suggestion plays a prominent part 
in the development of your power and the build- 
ing of your Life according to the Law as outlined 
in preceding texts. 



260 YOU 

Now comes the other kind of Suggestion in your 
contact with your fellows. Hetero-suggestion, or 
" other-suggestion,' ' is a splendid thing to utilize 
in your contact with humanity. 

In exactly the same way that auto-suggestion 
acts on your own mind, hetero-suggestion will act 
on the minds of others. The difference between 
the use of negative and positive hetero-suggestion 
is easily illustrated. 

"Will you do this?" is a neutral question devoid 
of suggestion except as it raises a doubt in the 
mind of the listener. 

"You won't do this! " is a question which carries 
negative suggestion — suggestion to the listener 
that he will not do what you ask. 

"You will do this" is a positive suggestion — 
leaves no room for doubt or question and can be 
phrased and intoned so pleasantly that while the 
effect is present it arouses no resentment. 

It does not seem very plausible that people will 



YOU , 261 

do the things we want them to do simply by 
requesting them in a manner which, while pleas- 
ant and inoffensive, still carries strong positive 
suggestion. Yet that very fact is as thoroughly 
scientific and proven as the transmission of elec- 
tricity through wires. 

I do not believe that the man or woman taking 
up the study of the Law should seriously attempt 
hetero-suggestion until he or she has sufficiently 
progressed in the study of the Law to have un- 
derstood and utilized auto-suggestion, to have 
builded within the habit of belief and the com- 
ponent parts of the Law. 

Then, out of understanding and belief, positive 
suggestion will come easily and surely, for it is 
born of the things that are part of the Law and 
nothing else. 

This, then, is the secret of mastering others. 
Master through attraction rather than dominance 
■—hold and build through the practice of the Law. 

"I respect and love mankind. I give 



262 YOU 

more than I receive, therefore no man 
is greater nor stronger than I. Yet I, 
the equal of all men, am the superior of 
none, for I receive as well as give. What 
is to be will he and will be for the best. 
I fear none. I love all. I am I."- 



TEXT TWENTY-ONE 



THE HABIT OF SUCCESS 



And now — finally — you have arrived at the last 
chapter. 

You have read this book once. 

What is the verdict? 

Are you going to utilize and develop the comple- 
ments of the Law that lie latent within you — are 
you seriously going to set about acquiring the 
habit of success and the art of living a happy 
life — or — are you going to cast the Law aside 
because it looks as if it would take time and 
trouble to develop and capitalize? 

Certainly no man can read this volume once and 
emerge in full mastery of himself — his mind and 
his powers full grown under the Law. Great re- 

263 



264 YOU 

wards do not come from perfunctory effort. It 

takes time. 

But — just thirty minutes a day spent in the work 
— half an hour every day — if you'll put this 
amount of time back of yourself, inside of one 
month you will feel benefits that would sound like 
wild promises at this reading. 

Here. A test — a simple one. 

Every man and woman who is enough interested 
in self to have secured and read a volume of this 
character, is sufficiently familiar with his or her 
own problems to definitely set forth one or 
two weaknesses — problems — handicaps — call them 
what you will. 

Select from your own mental inventory of your- 
self the one point where you know you are lack- 
ing — where you feel your greatest source of un- 
happiness and weakness lies. 

Then go back through the work and select that 
portion which relates most closely to your trouble. 



YOU 265 

Eegularly, every day for two weeks, devote thirty 
minutes out of every twenty-four hours to 
reading the section you have selected and act- 
ing upon its suggestions in relation to your 
weakness. 

Do this seriously. Do it with the honest agree- 
ment with yourself that you will believe and act 
upon your belief. And inside of the allotted two 
weeks your "weakness' will melt away like tallow 
before the flame — the barriers will be as 
nothing — the weakness will have turned into 
strength. 

Then — if this proof means anything at all to you 
— proceed with the work. Continue your daily 
work with the Law and its complements, for the 
test I have suggested is merely for the sake of 
proof ; the only permanent, really valuable results 
are attained and held through all-around develop- 
ment. You can't put up a wall on one side and 
have a building — you need four walls and a roof. 
So it is with the Law — strength four-square, top 
and bottom, are necessary, and this comes only 
from all-around development. 



266 YOU 

If, either after the result of a test or a determina- 
tion already made, you decide to proceed with 
the work and live under the Law, this volume 
will serve as a text from which to base your 
early moves. 

Act upon a plan. Allot a certain period to each 
section, according to your need for strength from 
that complement of the law — the weaker you feel 
yourself to be on an individual complement, the 
longer you should allow. The total time for study 
of the whole, however, not to exceed six months. 
This, to prevent one-sided development and 
insure a steady advance upward in the entire 
work. 

Devote thirty minutes a day to seclusion, con- 
sideration and study. Make notes as to your 
needs and your progress. Practice what you ac- 
quire in each day's living. You are receiving a 
plan of Life. Do not stop at an understanding 
of the theories and methods ; reconcile them with 
your needs and act upon them. 

Do not try to do too much at once. A little, well- 



YOU 267 

assimilated and thoroughly understood, is a better 
groundwork for the success-habit under the Law 
than many complements superficially inspected. 
Note down your experiences. Make the work not 
my experience, but your own. It is of real value 
only as translated into your life. And only you 
can do the translating. 

Lying on the bench in a shop, the various parts 
of a motor are things inanimate — without the ves- 
tige of Life. 

Here — between the pages of this little volume — ■ 
the Law is a thing of words. 

But, once assembled, the motor parts become a 
whole — the engine is a living thing — a driv- 
ing force that turns its power where the owner 
wills. 

And so it is with the complements of the Law in 
these printed pages. Once assembled in you — 
made whole by your understanding and belief — 
they become the Law — a driving force that dis- 
pels the days of darkness — insures the habit of 



268 YOU 

successes and makes each hour that passes leave 
behind its toll of happiness and achievement. 

Life is not a thing one lives all at once. The sum- 
total of Life is a multiplication of the days that 
man has lived. 

And the days are made up of hours. 

For happy days — success days — the Law must 
govern every hour— every moment. 

And the more your actions under the Law become 
a habit, the more the hours hold for you — the 
greater the total of happiness and progress the 
days pile up. The goal is always in your hands 
— you are living in the present — the past 
holds only pleasant memories and the future is 
certain. 

Every serious-minded person recognizes the fact 
that the average human is a ship adrift upon the 
sea of Life. 

Years of supposed trial — imaginary trouble and 



YOU 269 

footless, though none the less heavy, tribulation — 
pass until the turning-point is reached— then — 
things long regarded hopelessly as impossible 
come easily and surely. Everything is pos- 
sible — everything comes — almost without the 
asking. 

Why is this? Have you ever sought the reason? 
I can give it to you. 

Eventually — over the long, hard road of bitter 
experience spread over a long period of years — 
the Law either consciously or unconsciously is dis- 
covered — the individual at last learns to use the 
engine and rudder and compass with which his 
craft has been equipped from the beginning. 

And the moment he understands the use of these 
things, he is living under the Law, and all things 
come. 

But the years spent in blind reaching and strug- 
gling for the light-^they are not wasted, true, but 
they are unnecessary. All this has been done for 
you, and why should you try to do the work alone 



f 



270 YOU 

when thousands and thousands of hands are out- 
stretched to your aid? 

This work is a short cut — a short cut to finding 
yourself — to using the rudder, the engine and com- 
pass with which you are equipped — to help you 
steer a safe, sure, happy course to the final ports. 

It offers what you make it offer. 

It gives you what you believe you will receive — 

no more — no less. 

-\ 

In the beginning — your belief will be of neces- 
sity close kin to the wish that is father to the 
thought. 

But as you progress the character of your belief 
will change — step by step it will become convic- 
tion of the deepest, finest kind, and in months, 
not years, you will be reaping the happiness out 
of the hours and the progress out of the days that 
many have spent a lifetime seeking in vain, not 
because they lacked the power, but because they 



YOU 271 

sought it outside instead of inside themselves. 
Everything finds its source in the human mind — 
no matter what it is, it must be imaged in a human 
mind before it becomes a reality. The study of 
the mind, its influence on yourself and others from 
a scientific aspect is the work of a lifetime. 

But the study of your own mind, under the great 
Law, your mind in its relation to everyday prob- 
lems and progress, is an easy, inspiring, enjoyable 
diversion — a diversion of the most profitable kind 
from every standpoint. 

You are not going to study this book. You are 
going to study yourself. 

What you are seeking is a plan of living which 
will concert and direct your latent powers so as 
to substitute for strife and struggle content, en- 
joyment, financial ease and the other simple things 
that constitute personal progress. 

Two men are walking through the park. 

One man strolls abstractedly along, his mind 



272 YOU 

wrestling and struggling with imaginary prob- 
lems and troubles — looking ahead to his arrival 
at an office filled with work and care. 

The other man strides easily over the gravel paths, 
breathing in the fresh, clean air, his eyes seeing 
the beautiful green of the foliage about him, not- 
ing with keen enjoyment the birds flying in the 
trees and the occasional squirrel that crosses his 
path. Even the breath of the air on his face 
gives a keen touch of enjoyment. He is living 
in the moment, gaining all it holds. And if the 
sky were gray and thunderous the majesty of the 
elements enraged would win his interest and his 
enjoyment in exactly the same manner and way 
that the balmy day does. 

Which man is living under the Law? Ask your- 
self which man is really living and the question 
answers itself. 

The man who gives interest receives things that 
interest him. He who gives enjoyment receives 
the things which make enjoyment. Open your 
ears and your eyes and your senses to the won- 



YOU 273 

ders about you. Let your appreciation be always 
keen, whether of men or things. Permit no evil 
to enter — seek the light and fill up your soul with 
light and you will give forth the thing that others 
seek — light. 

When you are living under the Law the things 
that are yours will come to you. Nothing is im- 
possible. You attract success and the worthwhile 
things in the same way and as surely as an electro- 
magnet attracts certain metals. 

We are all familiar with the little horseshoe mag- 
net they used to sell in toy stores when we were 
children. The limit of its magnetic attraction was 
a bar of iron about an eighth-inch thick and an 
inch long. 

You would condemn the man as narrow who said 
that because the little horseshoe magnet could 
attract only the small piece of iron that that load 
was the limit of magnetic power. 

Every man attracts to himself certain things — 
inevitably they come to him in some measure sim- 



274 YOU 

ply because the Law evidences itself in all humans 

in some degree. 

But take the man, who judged the limit of mag- 
netic power by the little horseshoe magnet, down 
to the shipyards and let him see a great electro- 
magnet lifting tons of metal — and let him realize 
that the Power of the Law is limited only by the 
extent to which the individual exercises it. Let 
him watch them shut the current off the giant 
magnet, and, its life stopped, the tons of steel drop 
from its face. Then let this man realize that in 
the same way that the moment the Law is de- 
parted from its power ceases and the things it 
attracts drop away. 

And just as the magnet which attracts steel 
exercises no influence upon brass or copper 
or certain other metals, the practice of the Law 
attracts only those things which you should 
have. 

The moment you are developed under the Law 
— the moment it is exercising its powers within 
you, you may be certain that the things you need 



YOU 275 

will come — the chaff and driftwood you don't need 
or want will pass you by. 

If you want it and need it, the Law will bring it 
to you. 

But, if it is unnecessary or harmful, the Law will 
pass you safely by. Many times things you think 
you want, under the test of the Law, will be found 
undesirable. 

This, then, is the end of the book. 

You have it as clearly as I can give it. 

And if it does for you what it has done for me, 
then the time I have spent in compiling and pre- 
senting it has not been in vain. 

My final word to you is this : 

Your life is yours — this book is yours. The two 
in combination may mean a fuller realization of 
what the world should hold for you than if you 
are forced to wait years for personal experience 
to point the way. 



S£ 



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